Merkel (or Merckel) is a common German surname. It may be derived from the German word "mark" (like in Denmark) meaning frontier.
The point is the big ones, the real ones, the Thatchers and Indira Gandhis and Golda Meirs and Angela Merkels, never play the boo-hoo game.
WSJ: Things Are Tough All Over
英汉双解词典包含3185865条英汉词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。