Family name origins & meanings
- North German : from Middle Low German koppel ‘enclosed common pasture’, hence a topographic name for someone living near such pasture, or possibly a status name for a commoner, i.e. someone who had the right to use such land for his livestock.
- German : from the Silesian dialect word Köppel ‘head’, a nickname for someone with a visible deformity or peculiarity of the head.
- Jewish (Ashkenazic) : from the Yiddish personal name kopl, a pet form of Jakob (see Jacob).