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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • German and Danish : assimilated form of Nils, a contraction of Nikolaus (see Nicholas).
  • Americanized spelling of German Nüss ‘nut’ (see Nuss 2).
  • Jewish (from Ukraine and Poland) : ornamental name from Yiddish dialect nis ‘nut’ (cognate with German Nüss; see 1).

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