Frankel
A surname from the Frankish name root, often meaning “descendant of a Frank” or a diminutive form of Frank.
The #4,860 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 42,568 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Frankel is built on the name root Frank, ultimately from the ethnonym for the Franks, the early Germanic people who gave their name to France and the Frankish empire. In German naming practice, the suffix -el can function as a diminutive or affectionate ending, so the surname may originally have meant “little Frank” or “son of Frank.” In some cases it may also reflect Yiddish or German usage as a surname formed from the personal name Frank.
History
The surname appears in German-speaking areas and later among Jewish families in Central and Eastern Europe, where names from personal names were widely adopted and inherited. It also occurs in English-language records, usually through immigration from German- or Yiddish-speaking communities. Nineteenth-century surname writers linked it with the Frank-name family and treated it as a related diminutive or variant form.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Frank- name root also lies behind surnames like Franklin and Franco, though those names developed by different routes.
From the historical record
“diminutives. Old Gei-m. Francula, 5th cent. — English Frankel. Old ^^/6 V Germ. Francolin, 8th cent. — Eng. Franklin — Mod. Germ. I) Franklin — French Franquelin, Francillon. PHONETIC ENDING.”
— The Teutonic Name-System applied to the family names of France, England and Germany