Family name origins & meanings
- Swiss German : topographic name for someone living on or near a peak or summit, from Kipf ‘edge’, ‘verge’, ‘point’.
- German : from a derivative of the personal name Giebfried, from Old High German geba ‘gift’ + fridu ‘protection’, ‘peace’.
- South German : from the dialect word Kipf or Kipferl ‘croissant’, ‘crescent-shaped roll’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker or pâtissier.
- Respelling of Swiss German Küpfer (see Kupfer).