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Cap Family History

Cap Surname Meaning

Polish, Slovak, Rusyn (from Slovakia and Poland), and Jewish (from Ukraine); Hungarian (Cáp): from Polish and Slovak cap, Rusyn and Ukrainian tsap ‘he-goat’ and so probably a nickname for someone thought to resemble the animal in some way or perhaps a metonymic occupational name for a goatherd. Compare Czap.

Czech (Čáp): nickname for a tall or long-legged man from čáp ‘stork’. Compare Chap and Czap. Americanized form of Ukrainian and Rusyn Tsap a cognate of 1 above.

Breton (also Le Cap) and French: from Breton kab and Occitan cap (from Latin caput) ‘head’ or in the metaphorical sense ‘chief’, also ‘promontory’. This may have been a topographic name for someone living on a promontory or headland or a nickname for a stubborn person or for a person with something distinctive about his head, or perhaps a status name for a village elder.

This surname is found mainly in Finistère in Brittany. Compare Capp. English (North Yorkshire): variant of Capp. Americanized form of Dutch or German Kap, a cognate/variant of German Kapp.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


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Where is the Cap family from?

You can see how Cap families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Cap family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Cap families were found in USA in 1880. In 1891 there were 11 Cap families living in Yorkshire. This was about 32% of all the recorded Cap's in United Kingdom. Yorkshire had the highest population of Cap families in 1891.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Cap surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
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What did your Cap ancestors do for a living?

In 1939, Unpaid Domestic Duties was the top reported job for people in the United Kingdom named Cap. 100% of Cap women worked as an Unpaid Domestic Duties.

View Census Data for Cap | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Female Occupations In 1939

  • Unpaid Domestic Duties
    100%

What Cap family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 8,000 census records available for the last name Cap. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Cap census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search Australian census records for Cap

Passenger Lists

There are 2,000 immigration records available for the last name Cap. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in Australia, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

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Draft Cards

There are 23,000 military records available for the last name Cap. For the veterans among your Cap ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

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What is the average Cap lifespan?

Between 1944 and 2004, in the United States, Cap life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1944, and highest in 1969. The average life expectancy for Cap in 1944 was 39, and 79 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Cap

An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your Cap ancestors lived in harsh conditions. A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more.

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