Family name origins & meanings
- German (Kölb(e)l) : nickname for a fat or coarse man, from a diminutive of Middle High German kolbe ‘club’, ‘cudgel’ (see Kolb).
- German (Kölb(e)l) : nickname for a slow, relaxed man, from early modern High German kölbeln ‘to stroll’, ‘to amble’.