Neville
A surname meaning “new town,” from places called Neuville in Normandy and related French localities.
The #3,053 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 26,301 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Neville comes from Anglo-French forms such as de Neville, ultimately from French Neuville, meaning “new town.” The place-name itself is built from French neuve/neu and ville, from Latin nova villa, “new estate” or “new settlement.” Medieval records sometimes Latinized it as de Nova Villa.
History
The name was established in England after the Norman Conquest and became the surname of one of the great English noble families. Early records show several spellings and there is no absolute proof as to which specific Neuville in Normandy supplied the family name. Historical writers also note that not every early bearer necessarily came from the same place, so the surname may have arisen more than once.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Nevilles became one of the most prominent noble families in medieval England, but even 19th-century surname scholars could not pin down the exact Norman village behind the name.
From the historical record
“NEVILE ' ( A.-Fr.-Lat. ) Bel, to i N6ville NEVILL (Normandy: Manche and Seine- NEVILLE J Inf^rieure) ; 2 Neuville (very com- mon in France) = the New Town [Fr. neuve (f.;, Lat. nova, new + Fr. ville, town ; Lat. villa, estate, manor] These names were Latinized in our records de Nova Villa. NEVIN (Celt.) I a contr.…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)