indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Meaning & History
1 English: nickname for a wise or thoughtful man, from Anglo-Norman French counseil ‘consultation’, ‘deliberation’, also ‘counsel’, ‘advice’ (Latin consilium, from consulere ‘to consult’). This form was probably influenced by the similar meaning of Anglo-Norman French councile ‘council’, ‘assembly’ (Latin concilium ‘assembly’, from the archaic verb concalere ‘to call together’, ‘to summon’), and it may also have been an occupational name for a member of a royal council or, more probably, a manorial council.2 Americanized spelling of German Künzel ( see Kuenzel ).