Napier (surname)

This article is about the name Napier. For other uses, see Napier.

Napier
Family name
Region of origin	Scotland
Language(s) of origin	English
Related names	Napper, Napierala

Napier ( /ˈneɪpɪər/) is a surname with an English, Scottish or Polish origin. The British surname Napier is derived from an occupational name for someone who sold or produced table linen; or for a naperer which was a servant who was responsible for the washing and storage of linen in a medieval household. The surname is derived from the Middle English, Old French napier, nappier which is a derivative of the Old French nappe meaning "table cloth".^[1] The earliest occurrences of the surname is of a Peter Napier in 1148 in the Winton Domesday; Ralph (le) Naper, le Napier in 1167-71; and Reginald le Nappere in 1225.^[2] The surname can also be a shortened form of the Polish surname Napierala.^[1]

People

• Alan Napier (1903–1988), actor who played Alfred the Butler in the television series Batman
• Alex Napier (musician), musician, formerly a drummer for the band Uriah Heep
• Bill Napier (William M. Napier, born 1940), Scottish astronomer and author
• Buddy Napier (Skelton Le Roy "Buddy" Napier), American Major League Baseball pitcher
• Charles Napier (disambiguation)
• Claude Napier, British translator of Scandinavian
• David Napier (disambiguation)
• Duncan Napier, Victorian botanist and herbalist
• Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier and 1st Baron Ettrick (1819 – 1898)
• George Napier (disambiguation)
• Graham Napier (born 1980), English cricketer
• Henry Edward Napier, another of George Napier's sons, naval officer and historian.
• Ian Napier (aviator), World War I flying ace
• Irene Napier (born 1953), Scottish film and television Make-up artist
• Jack Napier (porn star) (born 1976), Puerto Rican pornographic actor
• James Napier (disambiguation)
• Jessica Napier (born 1979), New Zealand actress, daughter of Marshall Napier
• John Napier (disambiguation), including the sixteenth century mathematician.
• Joseph Napier (1804–1882), Irish conservative Member of Parliament
• Lonnie Napier (born 1940), American politician from Kentucky
• Macvey Napier (1776–1847), Scottish lawyer, editor of the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Mark Napier (disambiguation)
• Marshall Napier, New Zealand actor, father of Jessica Napier
• Mick Napier, American actor and director
• Nigel Napier, 14th Lord Napier (born 1930), Scottish soldier and courtier
• Nigel Napier-Andrews (born 1942), British/Canadian TV producer and director
• Oliver Napier (born 1935), first leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Phillip Morris Napier, American politician in Maine
• Richard Napier (1559–1634), astrologer
• Priscilla Napier, English biographer
• Prudence Hero Napier, British primatologist
• Robert Napier (disambiguation)
• Russell Napier (1910–1974), Australian actor
• Simon Napier-Bell (born 1939), English music professional, one-time manager of The Yardbirds, Wham! and others
• Sue Napier (born 1948), Tasmanian politician
• Susan Napier, New Zealand novelist
• Susan J. Napier, American professor
• Thomas Napier (philanthropist) (1802–1881), Scottish philanthropist
• Wilfrid Napier (born 1941), South African cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
• William Rawdon Napier (1877-1951), Admiral of the Royal Navy
• William Ewart Napier (17 January 1881 in East Dulwich, Surrey - 6 September 1952 in Washington, D.C.) was an American chess master of English birth.

• William Napier, pseudonym for British novelist Christopher Hart

Fictional persons

• Carson Napier, fictional hero of Edgar Rice Burroughs Venus series
• Declan Napier, fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbors
• Jack Napier, fictional villain from Batman
• Rebecca Napier, fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbors
• Sean Napier, fictional character in Exosquad

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Napier Name Meaning and History". Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Napier-family-history.ashx. Retrieved 3 March 2009. 
2. ^ Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006) (pdf). A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.). London: Routledge. p. 2240. ISBN 0-203-99355-1. 

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