The name comes from the Old Norse word kętill, which means "kettle" and probably also "helmet" or perhaps "cauldron".

An equally likely meaning is a source, a hope that the boy will get ample resources to draw upon later in life.

[2] In Swedish and Norwegian it is pronounced with the voiceless alveolo-palatal sibilant fricative [ɕ].

In Landnámabók, it is the male name that occurs most often - even more frequently than the most widely used compositions with Tor-.

The name was most often written with runes like ᚲᛖᛏᛁᛚ (ketil), ᚲᛁᛏᛁᛚ (kitil) or ᚲᚨᛏᛁᛚ (katil).

The following table provides a detailed overview of the popularity of the male name Kjell and its variants in some of the countries where statistics are available.