Submitted Surname Revision History

Named after profession from Middle High German kien ‘pine chip, torch’ for someone who chips pine wood (wood from pine or spruce) and sells it (e.g. to smelters), a lumberjack or charcoal burner.

It can also be a variant of Kühner.

Only in rare cases from a nickname derived from the Swiss dialect verb chienen 'to whimper'.