Kroll
A German surname that likely began as a nickname for someone with curly or frizzy hair.
The #3,253 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 27,820 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Kroll is generally explained from German dialect words meaning “curly” or “frizzled,” especially forms related to Middle Low German krulle, “curl” or “lock of hair.” Some 19th-century writers also treated it as a nickname surname alongside German names like Krull and Croly with the same sense. A few older etymological systems tried to connect it with older personal-name elements, but the curly-hair explanation is the clearest and best supported in the excerpts.
History
The name appears in German-speaking areas and is especially associated in older onomastic literature with northern German forms. It later spread through migration into other countries, including the United States. Related spellings and parallel surnames such as Krull and Krollmann show the same nickname tradition.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 20th-century German surname reference explicitly glosses Kroll as meaning much the same as Kraus and Kruse: a nickname for a curly-haired person.
From the historical record
“KrohnAiß s. Kraoefuß. Kroll s. a) I. Hrod (einst. K.) b) III. „ge- kräuselt" vgl. niederd. Krulle „krause Haar- locke". Kroloff 8. Hrod (V.).”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen