Frequency: (148)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
English: habitational name for someone from a place called Keevil in Wiltshire, recorded in the Domesday book as Chivele, probably from Old English cȳf ‘hollow’ + lēah ‘woodland clearing’.
GIVEN NAME German 5%. Kurt (2).
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
