Pippin (name)
# Pippin (name)

Pippin or Pepin is a given name and surname. It is a masculine given name of Frankish origin with uncertain meaning. The name was borne by various members of the Carolingian family that ruled the Austrasian Empire in the Middle Ages, in what is now France and the western parts of Germany; most notably Pepin the Short, the first Carolingian king of the Franks and father of Charlemagne. Other variations of the name include Pipin, Pépin (French), Pippen, Pepijn (Dutch), Peppino or Pepino (Italian), and Pepe (Spanish).

## Origin

Wider use of the first name Pepin and its derivatives stem from the Carolingian kings. There are various explanations of the meaning of the name:

* In Spanish and Italian the name Pepe or Pepin is a shortening or nickname for Jose, Giuseppe, Jusepe, which all are names for Joseph. It's unsure if the early medieval name of Pepin also derives from Joseph.
* Derived from the Frankish word bib meaning "to tremble" (compare modern Dutch bibberen, meaning to tremble or shiver), thus it could mean "awe-inspiring".
* Late-formed examples of the English surname may alternatively be from Old French pepin or pipin ‘seed of a fruit’, and thus a metonymic occupational name for a gardener or grower of fruit trees.
* Dutch sources suggest that the name Pepijn is an infantile corruption of Wilbert or Wilbrecht meaning will and bright, where Wilbert gets shortened into Wilbo which morphed into Pippo and finally into Pepin.

## People

### Carolingians

* Pepin of Landen (c. 580–640), nicknamed the Elder, sometimes listed as a saint
* Pepin of Herstal (c. 635–714), nicknamed the Middle
* Pepin the Short or Pippin the Younger (c. 714–768), father of Charlemagne
* Pepin the Hunchback (c. 769 – 811), first son of Charlemagne
* Pepin of Italy (777–810), second son of Charlemagne, born Carloman and later named Pepin
* Pepin I of Aquitaine (797–838), grandson of Charlemagne, son of Louis the Pious
* Pepin II of Aquitaine (823–864), son of Pepin I of Aquitaine
* Pepin, Count of Vermandois (817–850), grandson of Pepin of Italy

### Other people

* Clermont Pépin (1926–2006), Canadian pianist, composer and teacher
* Jacques Pépin (born 1935), French chef, television personality and writer
* Paula Nenette Pepin (1908–1990), French composer, pianist and lyricist
* Shiloh Pepin (1999–2009), sirenomelia patient
* Théophile Pépin (1826–1904), French mathematician
* Victor Pépin (1780–1845), American circus performer and owner
* Dan Pippin (1926–1965), basketball player
* Donald Pippin (Broadway director) (1926–2022), American theatrical musical director and conductor
* Donald Pippin (opera director) (1926–2021), American pianist, founder of Pocket Opera
* Horace Pippin (1888–1946), self-taught African-American painter
* Robert B. Pippin (born 1948), American philosopher
* Pepín (footballer, born 1931), Spanish footballer, real name José Casas
* Ludwig Lachner (1910–2003), German footballer and manager nicknamed "Pipin"
* Pippin Drysdale (born 1943), Australian ceramicist and art instructor, Australia's highest earning ceramic artist
* Pepín (footballer, born 1996), Equatoguinean footballer, real name José Machin

## Characters

* a character in the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
* the nickname of Peregrin Took in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
* the protagonist of the novel The Short Reign of Pippin IV by John Steinbeck
* the yellow dog in a picture book series by K. V. Johansen
* the little boy in the BBC children's programme Pogles' Wood
* the dog in the BBC children's programme Come Outside
* Pippin, an American musical based on Pepin the Hunchback
* a mercenary soldier member of the Band of the Hawk in Berserk (manga)
