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ArchivesThe Krepkin-Kreplach Connection
in reply to a message by Phyllis
This morning I turned to my favorite source for surname meanings (*A Dictionary of Surnames* by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges), and I believe I made have found the connection between your "Krepkin" and our "kreplach". :)
The entry under the surname "Krapf" explains that the similar-sounding Jewish surname of "Krep(p)el" is a diminutive of Krapf. Meanings given are: "nickname for someone with a hooked nose or a hunched back, from the Middle High German "krap(f)e" hook... The word was also applied to a type of crescent-shaped pastry, and the surname may thus also have been a metonymic occupation name for a baker."
Furthermore, the article mentions that the Yiddish word "krepl" is the source of the Jewish surname "Krep(p)el, and explains that "krepl" means merely "a kind of boiled dumpling."
So, "kreplach" literally means just what they are -- dumplings -- despite all the bubbe meisehs the old folks used to tell us kids for their amusement. :)
-- Nanaea
The entry under the surname "Krapf" explains that the similar-sounding Jewish surname of "Krep(p)el" is a diminutive of Krapf. Meanings given are: "nickname for someone with a hooked nose or a hunched back, from the Middle High German "krap(f)e" hook... The word was also applied to a type of crescent-shaped pastry, and the surname may thus also have been a metonymic occupation name for a baker."
Furthermore, the article mentions that the Yiddish word "krepl" is the source of the Jewish surname "Krep(p)el, and explains that "krepl" means merely "a kind of boiled dumpling."
So, "kreplach" literally means just what they are -- dumplings -- despite all the bubbe meisehs the old folks used to tell us kids for their amusement. :)
-- Nanaea
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