Bickel
A surname with German roots, often explained as a diminutive form built from a short personal name.
The #4,990 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 43,887 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most historical surname dictionaries treat Bickel as a German surname, often as a diminutive or short-form derivative of a personal name stem such as Bick- or Bic-. Some older writers also connected it with other Germanic name elements, but the exact underlying forename is not always clear. In practice, it is best understood as a surname formed from a personal name rather than from an occupation or place-name.
History
The name appears in German surname scholarship and was also noted in English-language reference works as a Continental surname. Variant forms such as Bickell and Bickeli are recorded, especially in German-speaking areas and in Swiss usage. In English records, the surname occurs as an imported family name rather than a native English place-name surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th- and early-20th-century surname compilers grouped Bickel with other short German names ending in -el, a common diminutive ending in German.
From the historical record
“Bick; p.n. Bickell, Bickle. Fr., Dch. Bickel, Bichel; p.n. Dim. of Bic Bicker. A loc. n., Lines. See Bick Bickerdyke. A loc. n. Bickersteth. From Bickerstaffe ; a loc. n., Lancs; anciently Bykyr-”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)