Hartwell
A locational surname meaning “the well or spring frequented by deer” or “Hart’s well.”
The #5,000 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 43,906 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hartwell is an English locational surname taken from places called Hartwell, especially the Buckinghamshire village. The name is usually explained from Old English heorot, meaning “hart” or male deer, plus wella, “spring” or “well,” so the literal sense is “deer spring” or “well frequented by deer.” Older sources sometimes simplify this as a place-name surname without distinguishing whether the first element refers directly to a deer or to a personal name, but the deer-based explanation is the standard one.
History
The surname appears in English records as a place-based family name, and later spread beyond its original county through ordinary migration. It is well established in Britain and also found in North America, where it was carried by English emigrants. Nineteenth-century surname writers consistently treated it as a local surname from Hartwell in Buckinghamshire.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One historical source specifically links Hartwell to the Buckinghamshire village noted as a residence of Louis XVIII for a time.
From the historical record
“the Hartshorn:' HARTWELL. Local From a village in Buckingham, Eng- land, noted for being some years the residence of Louia XYIII. The well or spring frequented by deer. HARYEY. (Sax.) From here, an army, and wic, a fort. OF FAMILY NAMES. 155 HASBROTJCK. Local. Derived from the town of Hazebrouek, in the province of…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names