Dahl (surname)

Dahl or Dahle is a surname of Germanic origin. Dahl, which means valley in the North Germanic languages (tal in German, dale in northern England English), is common in Germany, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Faroe Islands. The origin of the German forms Dahl and Dahle may have been in medieval Westphalia. In Germany about 11 places are called Dahl. In the Netherlands, a suburb of the city of Nijmegen (which in turn is named after an old estate in the area[1]) is called "Heyerdaal" (also spelled as "Heijerdaal"), in which "daal" also means "valley". Other examples are "Bloemendaal," "Rozendaal," and "Roosendaal." There are several variations as it was common to add a suffix to Dahl in order to denote the name bearer's original locale or occupation. You also find several variations of -dahl used with prefixes (Heyerdahl, Heimendahl...).[2] The oldest record of the name appears in Austria.[3] People with the surname include: