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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • German, Jewish (Ashkenazic), and English : occupational name for a maker of needles, from an agent derivative of Middle High German nādel(e), German Nadel ‘needle’, Middle English nedle, nadle. Needles in the Middle Ages were comparatively coarse articles made from bone. In some cases, especially as a Jewish name, it may also be an occupational name for a tailor.

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