Family name origins & meanings
- English : from the Middle English female personal name Gunnilla, Gunnild, Old Norse Gunnhildr, composed of the elements gunn ‘battle’ + hild ‘strife’. This was a popular name in those parts of England that were under Scandinavian influence in the Middle Ages.
- Irish : reduced Americanized form of Mag Congail, a Donegal name more often Americanized as McGonigle.
- Respelling of German Günnel, from a short form of the Germanic personal names Gundram or Gundlach.