One of my great-grandmothers was MARIA EPP [1872-1926]. She's the woman at the far left in the photo. I did some digging to see what the name EPP means. A book on German names, DEUTSCHE NAMENKUNDE by Max Gottschald, says it came from the old German personal names EBERHARD and EBURWIN. These, in turn, came from EBER, meaning wild boar. Wild boar, or pigs, were among prized game. Naming somebody after the fierce strong boar was probably a compliment. Shortened forms of the name include EBO, EB, EVER, EWERS, ABBO, EPPO, and EPP. Several other sources agree with this. They include the book MENNONITISCHE NAMEN by Victor Peters and Jack Thiessen.
DEUTSCHE NAMENKUNDE says the name EPP also came from the old German personal names ADALBOLD, ADALBRECHT, ADALBERT, and similar. These, in turn, came from ADEL, meaning nobility or aristocracy. Shortened forms of these names, which are many, include APP and EPP.
The above authors do not explain how the B of EBER or the D of ADEL became the P of EPP. Since EPP is a short simple name, it could have started quite separately in the two different ways mentioned above. This could help explain why the name was widespread in Germanic areas from at least the 1300s on. Mennonite researcher Horst Penner says it was common all the way from Switzerland in the south to Friesland in the north.
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