smalle

Smalle is a surname of Dutch origin. It is believed to be a toponymic or descriptive surname derived from the Middle Dutch word smal, meaning narrow, and typically indicated a person who lived near a narrow feature such as a road, a stream, or a narrow parcel of land. Over time, the form smalle emerged as the affixed or adjectival form that could appear as a surname in its own right. The name is most commonly found in the Netherlands and among Dutch-speaking communities, with some migration to other parts of Europe and the Americas.

Variations of the name include Smal and, in some cases, Smalle as an alternative spelling. In English-speaking contexts, related surnames such as Small may have arisen independently from the same root, though they are not direct cognates in every instance.

As a surname, Smalle is relatively uncommon, and there are no widely recognized figures universally identified with the name. It appears in civil records, genealogies, and historical documents, reflecting its long-standing presence within Dutch onomastic heritage.

The word smalle also exists in Dutch as an inflected form of smal meaning narrow, used in everyday language to describe a feature of limited width or breadth. There is no separate geographic entity universally recognized under the name Smalle in major reference works.