BUCKWELL
Buckwell is an English locational surname that denotes descent from, or residence near, a watercourse frequented by deer.
The name is formed from the Old English words bucca, meaning “buck” or “male deer”, and well(a), meaning “spring” or “stream”. Consequently, Buckwell originally identified a person who lived adjacent to a spring or stream associated with Bucks or deer, or to a notable deer well.
There are two placenames that give rise to the surname: one located in the Blean rural district of Kent, and another situated five miles from Battle in Sussex. Both places derive their names from the pre‑7th century personal name Bucca combined with wella, giving the sense of “Bucca’s spring or stream”.
The surname first appears in records from the latter half of the sixteenth century. The earliest attested spelling is that of Christopher Buckwell, whose marriage to Alice Bounting was recorded on 3 February 1569 at St. Dunstans, Stepney, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603).
Additional historic entries illustrate the dispersal of the name. Anna, daughter of Thomas Buckwell, was christened at Eastbourne, Sussex, on 17 March 1610. On 16 June 1644 Richard Buckwell married Elizabeth Verrall at Cuckfield, Sussex, and on 24 March 1656 Richard Buckwell wed Lidia Sims at Cranbrook, Kent.
A Grant of Arms for the Buckwell family is recorded, depicting two silver bucks in pale, adorned in gold, on a black shield. The shield is bezantee, meaning it is sprinkled with gold coins.
During the Middle Ages, increased labour migration led to the adoption of former village names as personal identifiers, thereby widening the geographic distribution of the Buckwell surname across England.
Typical given names associated with the Buckwell surname
Male
- Brian
- Chris
- Christopher
- Daniel
- David
- George
- James
- John
- Jonathan
- Ken
- Mark
- Paul
- Robin
- Stephen
Female
- Amanda
- Catherine
- Christine
- Emily
- Karen
- Margaret
- Samantha
- Sarah
- Sheila
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Buckwell in...
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Morse
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There are approximately 488 people named Buckwell in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around seven in a million people in Britain are named Buckwell.
