Family name origins & meanings
- German and Dutch : topographic name from Middle High German mergel ‘marl’.
- German : metronymic from Mergel, an old pet name from the personal name Maria (see Marie 1).
- German : variant of Merkel.
- German (Hesse) : from a West Middle German nickname for a lean or gaunt man.
- Dutch (van de(n) Mergel) : habitational name from Le Merghele in Rinxent in the Pas-de-Calais (France), Mergele in Ronse, or Mergelput (‘marl pit’) in Anzegem, Oostkamp, and St-Pieters-Kapelle, all named with this word.