Family name origins & meanings
- English : of uncertain origin; probably a variant of Catlin or Gadling, a nickname from Old English gœdeling ‘kinsman’, ‘companion’, but also ‘low fellow’.
- Possibly an altered spelling of German Göttling, from a Germanic personal name formed with god ‘god’ or gōd ‘good’ + -ling suffix of affiliation, or, like Gättling (of which this may also be an altered form), a nickname from Middle High German getlinc ‘companion’, ‘kinsman’. Compare 1.
