Frequency: (287)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Scandinavian, Dutch, and North German: from the personal name Apsel, Danish and North German vernacular form of the Biblical name Absolom. As a Scandinavian surname it is a shortened form of the patronymic forms Axelsson or Axelsen.
2. Belgian and Dutch: habitational name for someone from either of two places, Aksel in East Flanders or Axel in Zeeland.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
