[Facts] Phyllis! It's Not Dumplings...
in reply to a message by Phyllis
Phyllis,
Looking for another name entirely on a Russian site, I came across the 17th century first name "Krepkoi", meaning "strong". In perusing other names on the list, it appears there were many patronymic ("son of...") forms at the time, not just "-ovich".
One such common construction would result in "Krepkin", meaning "son of Krepkoi". Since a third name, or surname, was not common among the peasants of the day, it wasn't unreasonable that the patronymic would itself evolve into use as a surname.
So I'm gonna hazard that's the origin of Krepkin as a surname, derived from a first name (Krepkoi), and that it's Russian rather than Yiddish.
Looking for another name entirely on a Russian site, I came across the 17th century first name "Krepkoi", meaning "strong". In perusing other names on the list, it appears there were many patronymic ("son of...") forms at the time, not just "-ovich".
One such common construction would result in "Krepkin", meaning "son of Krepkoi". Since a third name, or surname, was not common among the peasants of the day, it wasn't unreasonable that the patronymic would itself evolve into use as a surname.
So I'm gonna hazard that's the origin of Krepkin as a surname, derived from a first name (Krepkoi), and that it's Russian rather than Yiddish.