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[Facts] Gehl
I've been wondering about this name for a while now. I'll be writing a story and wanted to have my main character's last name be Gehl. I'm pretty sure it's German, and I was wondering if anyone knew anything about it (i.e., history, possible names that it's derived from...)Any help would be much welcomed.

This message was edited 10/21/2007, 1:08 PM

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I found four meanings of it, all of them suggesting that Gehl is German:
1. from the short form of an old personal name formed with Middle High German geil ‘voluptuous’, ‘mischievous’, ‘rich’.
2. from an Old Frisian personal name formed with a cognate of Old High German modal ‘ancestral estate’, ‘home country’.
3. nickname for someone with blond hair or a pale complexion, from Middle Low German, Middle High German gel ‘yellow’, ‘blond’.
4. in eastern Germany, from a much altered short form of the personal name Daniel.
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Thanks so much. Did you possibly get any of the years in which Gehl originated? If not it's fine, but that would also be a great help.
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