Swindle
Usually an English surname from a northern place-name, probably Swindale in Westmorland, with some later confusion with local spellings and related forms.
The #6,989 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 64,416 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is generally explained as coming from Swindale in Westmorland, a place-name built from Old English or Old Norse words meaning 'swine' plus 'valley.' In that reading, the original sense is 'swine valley' or 'valley where pigs are kept.' A minority note in older sources suggests the name may also be linked to a northern dialect word for 'spindle,' but the place-name origin is the stronger explanation.
History
19th-century surname dictionaries repeatedly connect Swindle to Swindale, and related forms such as Swindell and Swindells. The name is mainly found in northern England, especially where surnames were taken from local places rather than inherited as fixed family names. Because the spelling overlaps with the modern verb 'swindle,' it can look suspiciously descriptive, but that is almost certainly a later coincidence.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Swindale in Westmorland was already recorded in medieval forms such as c. 1200, showing the place-name is older than the surname spelling.
From the historical record
“SWINDELL \ dale ; or Dweller at the Swine- SWINDLE J Valley {O.E. swin = O.N. suin + O.E. dcel = O.N. dal-r] Swindale, Westmd., was Swindale c. 1200. SWINDELLS \ pi., and genit., of Swindell, SWINDLES /Swindle. But the Chesh. Swindells are said to”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)