My Last Name Is Panehal?

All the internet searches I did under Panehal + name origin, kept leading to India.

If you're not Indian, then this name has been misspelled at some point. Given the way people pronounce things, there is a name Panall. The "E" was probably originally silent, and people always seem to drop the "H". That being so, it would have been pronounced "pan-all," as is the word "panel." There is also a Penhal, which may be possible.

Panall is also a misspelling for Parnall, and there's an Italian name, Panalli, that an immigrant may have changed at immigration. However, I find no Hungarian or Czech with this surname. Except for the Panalli, the others are all English.

All information I found leads to this:

http://www.punjabicastes.faithweb.com/whats_new.ht...

Sikh Surnames And The Castes To Which They Belong

JATT SURNAMES:

Padah, Padda, Pahal, Pahor, Pakimor, Palu, Panaich, Pan, Pandah, Pandeshi, Pandi, Panehal, Panjotarah, Panjuttha, Pannuhan, Panohan, Panon, Panwar, Panwaria, Parer, Parhar, Passani, Patoha, Paton, Patre, Paungar, Pawri, Phakiwar, Phalar, Phalron, Phalyon, Phiphra, Phoghat, Phulsawal, Pogal, Pohea, Pokhwat, Ponar, Poni, Poniya,

Pontah, Pote, Powar, Puni, Punia, Punn, Punnun, Purahwal, Puriwal.

You could also try here:

http://www.surnamefinder.com/search/P008961.html

If your name is Eastern European, then the spelling may well have changed.

It might help to find someone who was Hungarian, Czech or Slovak, and ask how they would spell your name.

Then you can try Rootsweb.com to search for other people researching your surname.

Or you could just try googling for "<your surname> family"

and see what you come up with.

Hope that helps.

If I had to make a wild-a$$ed guess, I'd say that your name used to be Panihela. The Ellis Island Records web site shows an Agnesa Panihela coming here from Hungary in January, 1903.

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