I’ve been casually researching the family name for a long time. Whilst randomly searching the internet for the name Kerlen I came across this little village/hamlet in France called Kerlen. You’ll notice from the screenshot that several other nearby places start with “Ker”. I am led to believe that this may mean “House”. I vaguely remember coming across something once that explained that Kerlen meant: House of Len.
There is a French connection to the Kerlen family. Apparently it is a French Hugenot name. An anecdotal tale from my Opa to my mother explains that Kerlen is a derivative of another similar French name. How true that is I don’t know.
Now I’m not sure whether this village has any connection to the Kerlen family but nevertheless still a pleasant find. I do plan on visiting it sometime. Maybe I can get my dad there. If anyone has any other information feel free to let me know.
Addendum: http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=45054