Family name origins & meanings
- German : from a medieval personal name, a short form of various Germanic personal names.
- German : nickname for an unctuous person, from Middle High German hæl(e) ‘secret’, ‘smooth’.
- German : nickname for a secretive or reclusive person, or topographic name for someone who lived at a remote or concealed spot, from Middle Low German hēle ‘secret’, ‘concealed’.