Jedele is a surname

Surname

A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

 of German origin (Wolfenhausen south of Stuttgart

Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

).

Derivation

The name originally derives from the Old High German

Old High German

The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...

 word Uodalrich (uodal = heritage) and rich (powerful). Uodalrich is also the origin of the name Ulrich

Ulrich

Ulrich, formerly Huldrich or Huldrych, is a Germanic name, derived from Old High German Uodalrich . It is also common as a German language surname...

.

Uodalrich was pronounced later üdelin, then Jedelin, and finally Jedele. The first known Jedele was Jakob Jedelin, born about 1540 in Wolfenhausen. There are many Jedeles in Germany (south-west), France (Alsace), Switzerland and the United States (also Yetley).

J is pronounced in German like Y in English – this is probably the reason why some immigrants to America (like Johann Georg Jedele) changed the first letter J into Y.

Variations

Variations of the surname are Jehle, Jehl, Jedell, Uller and Yetley in the United States. Other surname deriving from uodal and rich are Ulrich, Ullrich, Ullerich, Ulricher, Ullmann, Ulke, Utz, Utzmann, Ützle.