Leppo

This is a very interesting and unusual surname. It has apparently been recorded in the USA since at least the very early 19th century with one Daniel Leppo, apparently born in Maryland in 1804. At face value the name looks Mediterannean, Spanish perhaps, or even Turkish from Aleppo, except that we have not been able to identify any recordings of the surname in a near spelling in any European country - except as shown below. That it had European origins, is without question, the fore or Christian name of Daniel being another strong clue. Also 1804 is in the middle of both the Napoleonic War of 1795 - 1815, and the early years of United States independence from Great Britain. It is also a time when education was badly neglected throughout Europe, with fewer than one in ten of people being able to sign or spell their name, and emigration to North America being on hold. So spelling coupled with dialect maybe the clue to the origin of this name? That means that it is not how it was spelt, - but how it sounded (to what was almost certainly a British American), and then how it was perceived to be spelt, by somebody whose own education might be flawed. France had lost her North American colonies by the British victory at Quebec in 1759, and not surprisingly some French Canadians took the opportunity to support the colonists by land and sea during the ''rebellion''. The participant numbers are not fully known, but some that stayed were ''Americanised'' either voluntarily or not, in the spelling of their name. Fairly popular examples of French surnames today are Lepaul, Lepaux, Lepeu, Lepeux, of which an Anglo-Saxon dialectal spelling be it American or British - could well be Lepo or Leppo. The meaning of the name is ''The Paul'' after St Paul of Tarsus, and may have been given originally as a baptismal nickname for keen supporters of St Paul. The other similar spellings may have other meanings.