Show ContentsMockel History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The German province known as the Rhineland is the ancestral home of the Mockel family. The German people originally used only one name, but as the population grew there was often confusion between people of the same name. This required people to adopt hereditary surnames. Many people took surnames based on nicknames - sometimes known as eke-names - that described certain personal characteristics. Mockel is a name for a person who was round and plump. A broad and miscellaneous class of surnames, nickname surnames referred to a characteristic of the first person who used the name. They can describe the bearer's favored style of clothing, appearance, habits, or character.

Early Origins of the Mockel family

The surname Mockel was first found in Cologne, where this family name became a prominent contributor to the development of the district from ancient times. Chronicles first mention Jeckl Mock (Mockl) of Iglau in 1359. It's literal meaning in Old-German was "plump." Always prominent in social affairs, the name became an integral part of that turbulent region as it emerged to form alliances with other families within the feudal system.

Early History of the Mockel family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Mockel research. Another 129 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1722, 1760 and 1764 are included under the topic Early Mockel History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Mockel Spelling Variations

Many cultural groups lived in the German states in medieval times. Each had its own dialect and traditions, and unique variations of popular names. Low German, which is similar to contemporary Dutch, was spoken in Westphalia. German names are characterized by additions such as regional suffixes and phrases that tell something about the origin or background of its original bearer. Further contributing to the variation in German names was the fact that there were no spelling rules in medieval times: scribes recorded names according to their sound. The recorded spelling variations of Mockel include Mock, Moeck, Moek, Moecke, Moeke, Moekel, Moeckel, Moekl, Moeckl, Mockl, Mockler, Moeckel, Mockler, Muckler and many more.

Early Notables of the Mockel family

Notables with the name Mockel during this period were

  • Philipp Wilhelm von Mockel (d.1722), who was the mayor of the great city of Cologne and the Lord of Arloff near Rheinbach


United States Mockel migration to the United States +

Between the 17th and 20th centuries, hundreds of thousands of Europeans came to North America, and many Rhinelanders were among them. They had many various reasons for making the choice: to escape poverty and persecution, for adventure, and for the opportunity to own their own land. Ellis Island, one of the main American immigration centers, saw many settlers as they moved on to the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, California, and New York. In Canada, they found homes in Ontario, and on the great plains of the Midwestern provinces. The Mockel were among of the early German families that came to North America:

Mockel Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Ulrig Mockel, who landed in New York in 1709 1
Mockel Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • A Cath Mockel, who landed in America in 1846 1
  • Frederick Mockel, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1876 1


  1. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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