Purnell
An English surname most likely developed from the medieval female given name Pernell/Pernel, a form related to Petronilla.
The #4,197 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 36,577 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Purnell is generally treated as a variant of Parnell and ultimately as a development of the medieval personal name Pernell, a reduced form of Petronilla. That name goes back to Latin Petronilla, a feminine diminutive of Petronia, meaning something like "little Petronia." Some 19th-century dictionaries also suggested a possible link with Burnell, but the Parnell/Pernell line is the stronger and more widely accepted explanation.
History
Medieval records show several spellings in the Parnell/Pernell/Purnell group, and the surname spread in England in forms that often varied by region and clerkly spelling. The name later became established as a hereditary surname and is found in both Britain and, through migration, North America. Older scholarship sometimes treated it as an alternate of Burnell, so historical spellings can overlap in the sources.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older writers noted that Petronilla also produced the English name Parnel, which sometimes became a byword for a woman or maid in Middle English literature.
From the historical record
“purkIIsI^-p^-'^'^^-i- PURNELL for Pernell : v. Parnell. PURRIER, a var. of Perrier", q.v. PURSELL1 p ,1 . pursaill; '""'•cell, qv. , PURSER (A.-Lat.) i Cashier, Paymaster. 2 Purse-Maker. [M.E. pwser(e ; O.E. purs (Lat. bursa), a purse -t- the agent, suft. -ere]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)