Family name origins & meanings
- German : from a short form of a personal name beginning with Ohl-, such as Ohlerich (a variant of Ulrich), or Ohlbrecht (a compound of Odal- (from od- ‘prosperity’, ‘riches’) + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’).
- North German : habitational name from places in Westphalia and the Rhineland named Ohl, or a topographic name from Middle Low German ōl ‘meadowland surrounded by water’.