Kobel

Locally spelled Koebel in BB Barbados, FR France.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

Kobel is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Ukrainian surname8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan

  Languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Polish

  Also written Кобель, Кобел, Köbel

• French surname3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Switzerland, Belgium

  Also written Köbel

• Spanish surname3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Switzerland, Mexico

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Köbel

• a separate name2 spellings in the group

  Also written Köbel

• Indonesian surname3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Malaysia, Switzerland

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Köbel

• Greek surname2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece

  Also written Köbel

33 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Kobel is also recorded in 3 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, 1. topographic name from Middle High German kobel ‘rock’, ‘gorge’. 2. eastern German habitational name for someone from any of several places, mainly in Silesia, of Slavic origin, e.g. Kobel, Kobein, Koblau, which are named from Slavic kobyla ‘mare’. 3. from Kobel ‘laborer’s cottage’, ‘hut’, hence, by metonymy, a bondsman or serf.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In German, The space under the feet in carriages

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Russian, var of Kobel'.

  as a word·A Dictionary of Period Russian Names (Wickenden / Goldschmidt 1996)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Fritz Kobelb. 1896CHbotanist (1896–1981)
• Maria Kobelb. 1897DEGerman chemist (1897-1996)
• Otto Kobelb. 1919DEGerman director
• Alfred Kobelb. 1925CHSwiss artist
• Kevin Kobelb. 1953USAmerican baseball player
• Heinz-Dieter Kobelb. 1955DEGerman association football player
• Michael Kobelb. 1961DEGerman physicist
• Stefan Kobelb. 1974CHvolleyball player
• Craig Kobelb. 1982USAmerican football player
• Gregor Kobelb. 1997CHSwiss footballer (born 1997)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Kobel mean, and where does it come from?

from 'rock cavity'; also 'day-laborer house, stable' Recorded by Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung.

How do you pronounce Kobel?

In German /ˈkoːbl̩/ (Wiktionary).

In which country does Kobel have the most bearers?

In Switzerland, the national register counted about 1.4 thousand people named Kobel, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled kobel.

Where is Kobel most common?

Kobel is densest in Switzerland, where the national register counts about 1 in 5.9 thousand people carrying it.

How common is the name Kobel?

In Switzerland, the national register counted 1,418 people named Kobel in 2024, about 1 in 5.9 thousand residents.

How common is Kobel compared with other names?

In Switzerland, Kobel is the 674th most common surname of 127,759 surnames recorded there.