The name Dettling is based on the prefix Dett- and the ending –ling, a common way of making up names around the beginning of the time of some Germanic tribes in the Lower German regions (located roughly between East Westphalia and the North Sea coast and bordered by the Weser and Elbe Rivers).
During subsequent migration movements to the South and West, one can also find roots among the German tribes settling in Alammnia. At the time, that manner of making up names was exported to the German-speaking region north of the Alps between the old Roman borders and the later Burgund region between the Upper Rhine and the Swabian Alb. Due to its relative rarity within the German-speaking areas, the name Dettling can be found in only a geographically limited area. To this day the prefix syllable Det-/Döt- occurs in few family names.
Until about 1,000 A.D., first names were used to identify persons. Only after that did the names of clans (as presumably for the Dettlings), types of occupation, place of residence etc., become used as family names.
