Explore the Family Name Markell

The meaning of Markell

1. Americanized form of German Markel 1 or Markl 1 and possibly also of Slovenian Markelj (see Markel 3). Compare Markle. 2. Jewish (American): variant of Markel 2. 3. English (Suffolk): perhaps a habitational name from the Middle English river name Markel, of uncertain etymology but recorded in Old English as Mearcella, Mercyl. The river was re-named in modern times as the River Brett, back-formed from Brettenham (Suffolk). 4. English: perhaps a habitational name from one or other of the places called Markshall in Essex and Norfolk with loss of -s-. The Norfolk placename may originally have denoted the hall (Old English hall) or the nook of land (Old English halh) of a man named with the Old English personal name Mǣric. The Essex place may have denoted the dwellings (plural of Old English sele) by the boundary (Old English mearc), referring to the border between the hundreds of Lexden and Hinckford, or else the dwellings of a man named Mǣric or Mearc. 5. English: perhaps a shortened form of Markley, the main source of which was probably Marcle (Herefordshire). 6. English (Devon and Cornwall): variant of Markwell.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.