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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : occupational name for a tumbler or jester, from an agent derivative of Middle English spill(en) ‘to play, jest, or sport’ (Old English spilian).
  • English : nickname for a destructive or wasteful person, from an agent derivative of the homonymous Middle English spill(en) ‘to spoil, waste, or squander’ (Old English spillan).
  • German and Dutch : occupational name for a spindle maker, a variant of Spille with the addition of the agent suffix -er.
  • In some cases a variant of German Spieler.

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