German (König) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High
German kunic, German König ‘king’, hence a German
nickname for a servant or retainer of a king (for example, a farmer on
a royal demesne); or alternatively a status name for the head of a
craftmen’s guild, or a society of sharpshooters or minstrels. As a
Jewish surname, it was ornamental, one of several such Ashkenazic
names based on European titles of nobility or royalty.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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