KNILL members around the world

KNILL Family History

This unusual and interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and has two possible sources. Firstly, it may be from a topographical name for someone who lived on a hillock, derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "cnyll", hillock, a byform of "cnoll", meaning "top of a hill". Topographical surnames were among the earliest created, since both natural and man-made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names. The second source is locational from a place called Knill, in Herefordshire, derived from the Olde English "cnyll", as before.