Markle
A surname most likely taken from the place name Markle in East Lothian, Scotland.
The #5,858 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 52,392 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Markle is best understood as a locational surname, referring to the village of Markle in East Lothian, Scotland. Such surnames were commonly adopted by people who moved from a place or were identified with an estate or farm there. The place-name itself is of older Scottish origin, though the exact meaning of the first element is not certain from the excerpts provided.
History
The historical excerpts do not give the surname’s own derivation, but they do show the place-name Markle being used as an identifying label for a person connected with that locality. In Scotland, locational surnames of this kind often became hereditary over time and later spread beyond the original district through migration. The surname is now found in the United States as well, though it remains relatively uncommon.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Scottish place-name Markle was important enough to be used in styling people connected with it, which is how locational surnames often took hold.
From the historical record
“at Dryburgh Abbey. BROWN, RonEKt, styled of Markle, an emi- nent agi-icultural writer, was born in 1757 in the village of East Linton, Haddingtonshire, where he entered into business ; but his natural genius led him to agi'icultural pursuits, which he follow^ed with singular success. He commenced his agri-”
— The Scottish Nation; or, the surnames, families ... of the people of Scotland, vol. 1