What is "messerli"

Messerli is a surname. It means 'Little Knife' from the German 'messer' (knife) joined to 'li' (denoting little). It is a very common name in Switzerland, and also has many derivatives outside of Switzerland such as Messer and Messershmidt. Notable people with the surname include:

• Douglas Messerli (born 1947), American poet, writer and publisher
• Peter Messerli, Swiss Vice-President of the European Patent Office