Skip to main content

Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • German : from Middle High German kegel ‘skittle’, ‘pin’, hence a nickname for an inveterate skittles or bowls player. The term also denoted an illegitimate child (hence the phrase (still current) mit Kind und Kegel ‘with all the family’) and in early New High German (15th century) took on the meaning ‘uncouth person’.

Join the Family

Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.

Subscribe