Name Facts

Interesting Facts About the Kunkel Name

The Kunkel surname means “distaff’ which is a staff on which fibers such as flax or wool are wound before being spun into thread. The original family name in Germany was spelled “Kunkel” as verified consistently in church records. Once they arrived in the united States, the family name was usually recorded by officials who often anglicized the name using many variations. Since many of the German Kunkel ancestors could not sign their own name, variations would be expected. At least one ship captain spelled it Kungel and in the Philadelphia, PA Court House it was spelled Cunkel. The major variations that has been discovered include Conkel/le, Cunkellle, Gunckel, Gunkel/le, Konkel/le, and Kunkel/le.

The German Kunkel family, even today, are concentrated in the area of the wooded mountain area known as Spessart in central Germany. The area is known for its many hiking trails. The main town, Rothenbach, is located about 5 miles northeast of Nuremberg and is on the north side of the Pegnitz River. The town is a little village where most all the Kunkel families lived. It is centrally located from Aschaffenburg, Lohr, Wurzburg, Weibersbrun, and Heigenbrucken. The area is not densely populated and keeps the small, picturesque, small town and rural wooded image. It is a popular vacation area for German Families. Along the Pegnitz River there are many vineyards which produce a wine that is consumed locally while the local Wurzburg beer is known worldwide. The region’s farms raise sugar beets and there is some foresting and lumbering. During the early days, the area's Catholics were under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Mainz. Existence of an early glass house in the Spessart area was mentioned in a document dated August 22, 1349. That fits since many of the early Kunkels were glass blowers.

Interesting Facts About the Gohmann Name

Gohmann or Gohman are altered spellings of German Gö(h)mann, a nickname for a farmer or country dweller, from Middle High German göu, geu ‘region’, ‘country’ + man ‘man’, or, in the north, possibly a topographic name from the field name meaning "at the water meadow".