Family name origins & meanings
- English : from the Middle English personal name þorkell, a reduced form of Old Norse þórketill, composed of the elements þórr (name of the Scandinavian god of thunder; see Thor) + ketill ‘cauldron’. The personal name Thurkill or Thirkill was in widespread use in England in the Middle Ages; in northern England it was introduced directly by settlers from Scandinavia, whereas in the South it was the result of Norman influence.
- Jewish (Ashkenazic) : unexplained; possibly an ornamental name from Yiddish turkltoyb ‘turtle dove’.