The three most common spelling variations in the United States are Seiple, Seipel, and Siple. The surnames Seipel, Seiple, and Siple are of German origin. They are variants of the name Seibel or its earlier version Seybel. In the Deutsches Namenlexikon by Hans Bahlow, the name Seibold is described as a variant of Sigbald or Sibol, a name from middle Germany meaning victory. The short forms of Seibold are Seibel, Seible, and Seipel. Herr Bahlow also lists the name Seim or Sehm that has one of its variants Seipel from Bavaria and Austria. German records show the name Sipel in Frankfurt in 1409 and Sypel in Worms in 1349. Today in Germany the name is common.
In America, the Seibel/Seybel or Seipel surname was changed to Seiple and Siple. However, there are many variants that fall under the general Seipel category. The index of names appearing in the church records in the Marx Room in the Easton Public Library, Easton, Pennsylvania has 18 variants of the Seipel surname: Sabel, Sapels, Sappel, Saybel, Scipel, Sciple, Sabel, Seibel, Seible, Seipel, Seiple Sepple, Seybel, Seypell, Sibel, Sible, Siple, and Sippel. The spelling of the name has changed over the years due to the various recordings of county clerks, census takers, and the people themselves. Surname spellings have changed from generation to generation. In some cases, the last name for a husband and wife appear differently. An example is two headstones in the Old Williams Cemetery, Williams Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. The headstone for Henry Seiple and Sarah "Wife of Henry Seipel" are next to each other! The great, great grandfather of Roy Siple, one of the major contributors to this site, is buried in the Old Newton Cemetery in Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey. His headstone reads "John Sciples." John Sciples' son John spelled his name Siple in 1838 and it has remained that way. Pictures of these three headstones are in the IMAGES section.