Date
Name Cardinal
Type Surname (from occupation)
Other Forms FormsChardinal, Cardinel, Cardonal, Cardonel, Chardonel, Cardenal, Cardenil, Cardinale, Cardinall, Cardinalle, Cardonall, Cardonale, Cardonalle, Cardonell, Cardonelle, Cardonele, Cardonnal, Chardinnal, Cardinnel, Cardonnal, Cardonnel, Cardennal, Cardennil, Cardinnale, Cardinnall, Cardinnalle, Cardonnall, Cardonnale, Cardonnalle, Cardonnell, Cardonnelle
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Meaning & History
from Middle English, Old French cardinal "cardinal", a church dignitary (Latin cardinalis, originally an adjective meaning "crucial"). This surname may have denoted a servant who worked in a cardinal’s household, but was probably more often bestowed as a nickname for someone who habitually dressed in red or who had played the part of a cardinal in a pageant, or for one who acted in a lordly and patronizing manner, like a prince of the Church.