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There seem to be so many variant spellings of the name APGAR that it is difficult to decide which is authentic. In the Valley of the Rhine, near the Autobahn between Koln and Frankfurt, there is a village near Krunkel, named Epgert. This form of the name is being used in research of the Apgar Family in Germany. However, the present research is being centered in the Niederwambach area.
On the list of Captain Reed, the name is spelt Apgard, if we read it correctly. The Antger form of the name, as recorded by the Courthouse Clerk, has not been seen again by the writer.
In the records of the Lebanon Reformed Church, the name was spelt EBCHER by the German-born pastor of the day. By the time that the English had set about to Anglicize the name, it took the form Apgard. The German Letter E sounds more like the English A. Their B sounds to the English ear like the letter P. The German CH is not easily imitated by the English-speaking folk, so it comes out more like a soft G, perhaps a bit throaty. A soft G has to be followed by the letter E rather than A, according to English rules of pronunciation. All of these changes reached the English ears as Apger or Epgert. The German spelling of the name, however, continued as EBCHER, until 1786. At the time, the name of Anna Maria Apgar appears on 6 May 1786, in the Lebanon Reformed Church Records of Baptisms. At the same time, it frequently appeared as APGARD, but does not revert to the German EGCHER. By 1791 these records were written in English, and the name APGARD predominated until 1816. After that time it became APGAR.
When the Apgars first headed Westward, they seemed to have their surname spelt APKER, APHAR, AEPJER, APCHER, ABKER, and even APLER. Today, only two forms are commonly used: APGAR and APKER.
"An excerpt from the introduction of "JOHANNES PETER APGARD and his descendants",
published in 1984 by the Apgar Association
More on the Apgar name
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