Skip to main content

Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • German : nickname for someone who was finicky with food, inept in his work, or tentative in speech, from Middle High German niusen ‘to probe’, ‘try out’.
  • Altered spelling of Kneisler, a nickname from Middle High German knūz ‘cheeky’, ‘irritable’.

Join the Family

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

Subscribe