Rue de l’Ail takes its name from the “Klobelouch” family, which owned several houses in the street and whose coat-of-arms depicted three cloves of garlic (ail in French). As a result locals got to referring to it as “Klobelouchgasse” (Klobelouch Street).

With the passing years (and the phonetic distortions typical of Strasbourg), “Klobelouchgasse” eventually became “Knoblauchsgasse” (garlic street – rue de l’Ail).