Hassell
An English surname that may come from the medieval personal name Asceline or from a place-name form in Oxfordshire.
The #5,538 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 49,218 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained in two ways. One line of explanation connects it with the medieval given name Asceline, the same source that produced names like Ansell. Another treats it as a local surname from a place-form recorded as de Hassell in Oxfordshire, though the ultimate meaning of that place-name is not certain from the excerpts alone.
History
19th-century surname writers recorded medieval spellings such as de Hassell in Oxfordshire, and also linked Hassell with the personal-name family around Asceline. The name appears in English records by the Middle Ages and survives today in several spelling variants. Because both a patronymic-like and a locational explanation were current in older scholarship, the derivation should be treated cautiously.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books sometimes list Hassell right beside Hazell and related spellings, showing how fluid English surname spelling could be in medieval and early modern records.
From the historical record
“land, temp. Charles II. B.L.G. HASSELL. 1. From the Christian name Asceline ; so Ansell from Anselm. In the H. R., Fil'Acelini, Accllin, Aeelyn. 2. Local: De Hassell, co. Oxon. H.R. HASSETT. A common name in co. Kerr}"-. It is believed to be a contrac- tion of the surname Blenerhassett, just as Shaulcs is of…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom