KARPELES is a possessive form of Karpel, Yiddish diminutive form of Karp,
an eastern orthodox church baptismal name for boys, derived >from the
Greek word karpos, meaning agricultural produce--fruit in its broadest
sense. (Karpos was borrowed by Mishnaic Hebrew, and we use it during the
Passover seder.)

Jews often vernacularized their secular names. Karp, originally used by
some Jews as a "Goyish" given name, eventually became a surname. (My
KARPs lived in Minsk.) The form Karpel, though grammatically a
diminutive, denoted endearment. A boy whose father was called Karpel
might receive the sobriquet Karpeles, meaning Karpel's (son). In some
cases that sobriquet got established as a family name. (ISSERLES is an
example of a Hebrew name undergoing the same process: Yisroel > Isser >
Isserl > Isserles.)

"Leslie Reich" <countrywide@...> writes: