Temple Family History

English and French: occupational name or habitational name for someone who was employed at or lived near one of the houses (‘temples’) maintained by the Knights Templar, a crusading order so named because they claimed to occupy in Jerusalem the site of the old temple (Middle English, Old French temple, Latin templum). The order was founded in 1118 and flourished for 200 years, but was suppressed as heretical in 1312. English: name given to foundlings baptized at the Temple Church, London, so called because it was originally built on land belonging to the Templars. Scottish: habitational name from the parish of Temple in Edinburgh, likewise named because it was the site of the local headquarters of the Knights Templar.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press