ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1682 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1682 ************************************ 19 Apr 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about the German surname . This letter is a brief answer to your question. is probably a variant of , which originally derived from a pet form of various German given names beginning with , usually . We found a 1377, who was probably the son or grandson of a man called . The root name was used as early as the 8th century in the form [1]. It appears to have been most common in the northwestern and eastern parts of the German-speaking world [2]. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Walraven van Nijmegen and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 19 Apr 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.n. Till(e). [2] Bahlow, Hans, _Dictionary of German Names_, tr. Edda Gentry (German-American Cultural Society, 1994 ISBN: 0924119357), s.n. Thiel.