Ewell
Usually a locational surname from places called Ewell, originally meaning a spring or well.
The #6,988 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 64,402 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ewell is most commonly taken from the English place-name Ewell in Surrey, built on Old English elements meaning "spring" or "well". The name is often explained as referring to a spring frequented by roe deer, from a genitive form plus the Old English word for a spring or well. Some older writers also connected it with an Old English personal name, Ewald, but the place-name explanation is the safer and more widely accepted one.
History
The surname arose as a habitational name for people who came from Ewell or from other places of the same name. It is an established English surname and appears in 19th-century surname dictionaries as a local name. In modern usage it is found both in Britain and in the United States, where it remains relatively uncommon.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The name is tied to a water source: the place-name Ewell has traditionally been linked with a spring or well, not just a settlement.
From the historical record
“land. EWELL. 1. A town in Surrey. 2. Ewald, an A-Sax. personal name. EWEN. EWENS. See Ewing. EWER. See Ure. EWING. Euing, probably a Saxon, oc- curs in Domesday. EXALL. Two parishes in co. Warwick. (Exhall.)”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom