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  Sleeper Coat of Arms / Sleeper Family CrestThis surname SLEEPER is the Angliziced form of the German name SCHLEIFER, an occupational name for a polisher of swords and armour, or a grinder of knives or diamonds. The name was originally rendered in the Old German SCHLEIFEN (to polish). This was an important craft during medieval times. Occupational surnames originally denoted the actual occupation followed by the individual. At what period they became hereditary is a difficult problem. Many of the occupation names were descriptive and could be varied. In the Middle Ages, at least among the Christian population, people did not usually pursue specialized occupations exclusively to the extent that we do today, and they would, in fact, turn their hand to any form of work that needed to be done, particularly in a large house or mansion, or on farms and smallholdings. In early documents, surnames often refer to the actual holder of an office, whether the church or state. It was also occasionally used as a habitation name for someone who came from SCHLEIFE in Silesia. The first hereditary surnames on German soil are found in the second half of the 12th century, slightly later than in England and France. However, it was not until the 16th century that they became stabilized. The practice of adopting hereditary surnames began in the southern areas of Germany, and gradually spread northwards during the Middle Ages. Early records of the name in England mention Simon le Slepar, who was documented in County Oxford in 1273, and Johannes Slipar of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. The earliest English placenames were those taken over by the Anglo-Saxons from the Britons at the time of their settlement in Britain between the 5th and 6th centuries. It was after the Norman Conquest of 1066 that hereditary surnames began to be used. Many of the incoming Normans identified themselves by reference to the estates from which they had come in Northern France, and others took names from the places in England in which they settled. In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe. |
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