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Surnames: Before the 1700s, few families had surnames. People were known simply by their Christian names. However, by the mid-1700s, the need for universal taxation and for record for eligibility for military service motivated states and monarchies to enumerate the populace. Census takers compelled people to register surnames. Most surnames were registered as "son of -," or after a person's trade or physical characteristic. Some families took surnames of their town or country of origin.
Cartographers will note that there was an old town "Talpas" which appears on many old maps, including one titled "Ukraina quae et Terra Cossacorvm cum vicunis Walachiae, Moldaviae, Minorisq Tartariae Provinciis" from Atlas, published by Johann Baptista Homann in Nurnberg in 1716. On this, and other similar maps of the period, the town of Talpas is located NNE of Timisoara in Transylvania. Today this town carries a different name, and is in Romania near the Hungarian border.
 It is possible that the family which had migrated from the Hungarian town of Talpas came to have their surname registered as such.
Talpas in Hungarian means "sole of foot," resulting in a nickname: "Hey, you, Big Foot." It also means “foot soldier” or infantryman. Hungarian folklore has it that long ago very strong large men (talpas) were acclaimed for defending their king from his enemies.
The origin of the Northern (Lemko) branch is unknown. Some members of the second generation in North America recounted that long ago a Hungarian Jew married a gentile against the wishes of their respective families. The young couple was disowned by both families, so they went north along a well-established trade route passing through the Carpathian Mountains to start a new life among the Lemkos on the north side of the Carpathian hills. This website is primarily devoted to the Lemko branch of the family.
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