Frequency: (2961)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Irish: see Keeley.
2. English: nickname from Middle English keling ‘young codfish’.
3. Americanized spelling of German Kühling, a patronymic from Colo, probably a short form of an old personal name meaning ‘helmet’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
