Apel is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Erich Apel (1917–1965), German SED politician Hans Apel (1932–2011), German SPD politician Johann August Apel (1771–1816), German writer Karl-Otto Apel (1922–2017), German philosopher Katrin Apel (born 1973), former biathlete Willi Apel (1893–1988), German-U.S. musicologist