Frequency: (562) (number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Probably an Americanized spelling of German Nübel, a habitational name from any of several places in Schleswig-Holstein named Nübel, or possibly of Niebel.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.