Chapman, Allen

Chapman is an English surname derived from the Old English occupational name céapmann "marketman, monger, merchant", from the verb céapan, cypan "to buy or sell" and the noun form ceap "barter, business, purchase." Alternate spellings include Caepmon, Cepeman, Chepmon, Cypman(n), and Shapman. (By 1600, the occupational name chapman had come to be applied to an itinerant dealer in particular, but it remained in use for both "customer, buyer" and "merchant" in the 17th and 18th centuries. Modern c…