Knoll
A surname for someone who lived by or on a small hill or knoll.
The #3,697 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 32,134 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Knoll is a topographic surname from the word for a small hill, mound, or rounded rise in the land. The historical sources connect it with Middle English knol, meaning a hill or summit, and treat it as someone living "at the knoll" or on such a feature. The broader Germanic background is also consistent with Old English and related forms meaning a hill or mound.
History
The name appears in English surname tradition alongside forms such as Knowles and Knollys, which were often treated as related or expanded variants. In some families, the final -s in those spellings may have become patronymic-like over time, though Knoll itself is the simpler topographic form. The surname is found chiefly in English records, especially in areas where hill-based place-names were common.
Origin
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Fun fact
19th-century surname writers often glossed Knoll quite literally as meaning "at the knoll," making it one of the most straightforward landscape surnames.
From the historical record
“Auhrci/s Lives, vol. ii. p. 3G2. KNOLL. See Knowles. KNOLLYS. For the etymology see Knowles. The founder of the family, a person of humble origin, was the famous Sir Robert KnoUys, who, after the battle of Poictiers had established the supremacy of the English in France, greatly enriched himself by incursions into…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom