Bidwell
An English surname probably meaning “from the well or spring by the settlement boundary,” though its exact place-name origin is not fully secure.
The #7,167 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 66,155 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bidwell is generally treated as a habitational surname from an English place-name. The second element is likely Old English "wella," meaning a spring or stream; the first element may be a personal name or an old place-name element whose exact sense is uncertain. In older surname work, the name is often linked to a lost or minor locality rather than a famous surviving town.
History
The surname appears in English records and later spread to North America. Nineteenth-century surname writers grouped Bidwell with other English locational names, but they did not always agree on the precise origin of the first element. The name is best known in the United States through several established families, though it remains relatively uncommon.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Its spelling suggests the familiar word "well," but the first half of the name is the tricky part, and older scholars were not fully certain what it originally meant.
From the historical record
“Bidmead. A loc. n. Bidwell. A loc. n., Beds 1 Bigg. A.S. D. Big; G. Bick; 1 Dch. Bicker; a p.n. See Bick Biggadike. See Bickerdyke Biggar. A loc. n., Lanarks”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)