Surname Eckle - Meaning and Origin
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Eckle: What does the surname Eckle mean?
The last name Eckle is an American and English surname. It is thought to be a combination of two words, the German word "eck" meaning "corner" or "edge" and "le" meaning "small". The surname was likely derived from a toponym - referring to one who came from a place located at an angle or corner.
Although the origin of the Eckle name is uncertain, it is believed to have roots in both German and English. In the United States, the Eckle family settled in various regions including Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The earliest known record of the name appears as far back as the 18th century when Johannes Eckle married Elizabeth Hill in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1778.
The Eckle surname is commonly found throughout England, suggesting the name became popular during the centuries of migration. It is also thought to have originated in Scotland, with a Robert Eckle who stated his intention to emigrate to America in a document dated 1775.
Overall, the last name Eckle is believed to have originated from two words, "eck" and "le”, meaning "corner" or "edge" and "small" respectively. It was likely derived from a toponym that initially referred to people from a specific location. Over time, the Eckle name has been found in both German and English regions, along with Scotland and the United States.
Order DNA origin analysisEckle: Where does the name Eckle come from?
The last name Eckle is most commonly found in Germany. According to the German phone book, there are currently approximately 600 people in Germany with this last name. In the United States, Eckle is not as prevalent a name. Ancestry.com estimates the number of living US citizens with the last name Eckle to be between 100 and 300. Most of the people with the last name Eckle in the US appear to be descendants of German immigrants from the 1800s.
The last name Eckle is likely derived from the German word for "oak tree," eiche. The name would have been given to those who lived in a place with many oak trees, or simply to a person who appeared to have an affinity for oak trees.
Though the name is not particularly common in the US, many states have a few families that have existed for multiple generations. The largest concentration of people with the last name Eckle is in the state of Pennsylvania, with smaller pockets located in California, Michigan, New York, and Ohio.
Variations of the surname Eckle
The surname Eckle is a variation of a few other surnames with a similar spelling, such as Eckles, Eckl, Eckel, Ekel, Ekle, Eckelle, Eckiel, Ekl, Egel, and Egel.
Eckle is an Americanized spelling of its European and Germanic counterparts, but traces it's origin to old German, which is derived from the Germanic word 'egil', meaning 'the edge of a sword'. The surname is thought to have developed as a name for a person who lived near a prominent sword-like feature, such as a hill, stream or valley. The spelling of the Eckle surname can also be used to differentiate it from those surnames with similar spellings.
The Eckles version of the surname could also be related to early Germanic immigrants in America who Anglicized their names in order to blend in more effectively with the American culture. These names were often abbreviated, altered or adopted from other languages. It is possible that the ‘les’ at the end of the Eckles name could be an abbreviation of the ‘le’ suffix used to represent the French word for ‘the’.
In many cases, surnames were developed in order to distinguish a person from others sharing the same first name. Therefore, some of the alternatives to the Eckle surname could be variations developed to set a person of the same first name apart in a census. For example, a person named Eck could be distinguished from another Eck by adding a 'le' at the end of the surname, leading to variations such as Eckel, Eckl or Eckle.
Generally, Ekle is the most common variant of the Eckle surname, but other versions could be linked to the original old Germanic and European spelling.
Famous people with the name Eckle
- Kalan Eckles: professional basketball player in the Israeli National League
- Robert Eckles: Chief of the Abnaki Indian Tribe in Maine
- Kristin Eckles: professional actress and playwright
- Bill Eckle: former American football player
- Billie Joe Eckle: professional golfer
- Raynell Eckles: professional singer
- Frank Eckles: Major League Baseball umpire
- Kameron Eckles: professional high jumper
- Roxanne Eckles: former American tennis player
- Patrick Eckles: American painter and sculptor