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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Altered spelling of German Kardel, a metonymic occupational name for a wool carder, from a Rhineland dialect word, Karde ‘thistle’, dried thistle heads having originally been used to comb and clean (i.e. card) wool.
  • topographic name from Kardel, Rhineland dialect for a steep hillside path hewn out of the rock.

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