>Thanks a lot guys! You're gonna laugh at what prompted my query. I
>was attempting to trace the origin of my surname (:=)) and among
>various possibilities (in Vasmer and elsewhere) found that mention
>of "kinesh" by Dobrev, allegedly in some Eastern Iranian tongue
>(in the sense of "seed', "sowing", "growth", with an alleged Celtic
>cognate (but with no references).
Your name might be a derivation of... knyaz. This according to
Hans Bahlow, Deutsches Namenlexikon, 2nd ed., 1976, (Suhrkamp
paperback #65).
German-Slavic onomastic derivations highly frequent in Germany
and Austria are: _Kniesche, Knieschke, Niese, Knesch, Knesche,
Kneschke, Knösche_.
The onomastic dictionary says: "ostdeutsch-slawisch 'Fürst, Herr',
(from) _knesik_ 'Junker'; vergleiche (compare) knesepole
'Fürstenfeld'" Example for attestations given: "Ein Slawe _Dubbermer
Kneseke_ (in) 1301 (in) Stralsund" // _Kneese_: place name in
Mecklenburg.
***
But if your name might be a Slavic adaption of a German name,
this one might have been the South-German (esp. Bavarian/Austrian)
_Kneissl_ - from _Kneissel, Kneussel, Knäussle_ < _Knaus_ < _knu:s_
"knotty; gnarly, gnarled; snaggy; knobbed", fig. "raw; rude; tough";
esp. Suebian _Knaus_ (_Knäusle_ and _Knüsslin_ are diminutives
thereof) and Swiss Alemannian _knûs_ /knu:s/. Attested in South
Germany since the 14th century.
(In North Germany, esp. Hamburg, there are _Gnaß, Gnoß, Gnasa_,
_Gnosa_: the dictionary says "ostdeutsch-slawisch", yet without
explanations. Idem of _Gniesmer_ "ostdeutsch-slawisch".)
George