NAPIER. An officer in the king's bouseliold — the same as Naper, which see, A Scottish legeud, however, assigns a widely different origin. In a great battle between the Scots and some eaemj', whose nation is not specified, the former were on the point of losing the day, when one Donald, sou of the then Earl of Lennox, seized a standard, and rallied the retreating soldiers. This act of prowess changed the positions of the combatants, and resulted in the complete triumph of the Scots. The king on hearing of Donald's bravery, declared that he had Na pier — 710 equal; commanded him to assume those words as a surname ; and gave him lands in Fife, and the lands of Goffurdor Goosford. This 'mighty pretty story,' though evidently invented to explain the name, was certified to the heralds under the hand and seal of Sir Archibald Napier of Merchistoun, in 1 625. It is proper, however, to remark, that the Napiers sprang from the house of Lennox, and that their early members wrote themselves Lenox alias Napier; and it is no derogation of the dignity of this illustrious family to suppose that an earl's son, their ancestor, should have held the ofHce of Napier in the royal household.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.