Caplan

This name derives from the Old Norman French word “caplain,” which gave the old French and medieval English word “chapelain,” both meaning “charity priest, chaplain,” which in turn derives from the Latin “capellanus / cappellanus (sacerdos-otis). Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister, such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, imam, or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, school, police department, university, or private chapel. In German, the term Kaplan means “chaplain, curate.” The word is extant in other languages as well; for example, in Polish where the term “kapłan” translates as “priest,” in Hungarian, “káplán” means a priest of the royal court or that of an aristocrat’s; in Norwegian where it also has the meaning of priest while retaining the original, elongated form. Kaplan or Caplan is also a family name common among Ashkenazi Jews, usually indicating descent from the priestly lineage.