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The surname Knuckles likely has Old English or Anglo-Saxon roots, derived from a topographical or descriptive term. It could have originated from a geographical feature, like a knuckle-shaped hill or rock, or from a nickname for someone with prominent knuckles, physical strength, or a fighting reputation. The word itself comes from the Middle English knokel or Old English cnoccel, meaning a small knob or joint, and was later associated with the knuckles of the hand. Thus, the surname may have referred to someone with a distinctive physical feature or to a place with a knuckle-like shape, rather than literally meaning "knuckles."