CADDELL
Origin of the surname Caddell can be traced to the Gaelic peoples of the British Isles, particularly Scotland. It is a patronymic name derived from the Gaelic Mac Adhaimh, meaning “son of Adam”. The form Mac Cadail, based on a personal name that can be interpreted as “warlike” or “noble”, is also an early source of the surname and produced the variant MacCadwell which was later Anglicised to Caddell.
The name appears in the early medieval record as Adam de Caldwella in 1195, a reference found in the Pipe Rolls of Derbyshire. By the 13th century it was a distinct surname in Ayrshire, a southwestern Scottish county, and by the early 17th century it was brought to Northern Ireland during the Plantation of Ulster. There it became established in the provinces of Antrim, Derry and Tyrone.
In England the surname was previously a locational name taken from places such as Caldwell, Cauldwell, Chadwell or Caudle Green, all of which are situated in North Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Bedfordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire or other parts of the country. The place-name element derives from the Old English cald, meaning “cold”, combined with well, meaning “spring” or “stream”. Variations of the locational name give rise to surnames such as Caldwell, Caulddwell, Cadwell and Chadwell, and these in turn contributed to the modern spelling Caddell.
From its origin in Scotland the surname spread throughout the south of England. The first English recordings date from the 1840s in Suffolk, and later the name became common in Hampshire, London and the industrial cities of Birmingham and Manchester. In the west of England it appears mainly in Cornwall, Gloucestershire and Somerset, with a strong concentration in the Penzance and St. Ives districts.
Today the surname Caddell remains most common in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Within the United Kingdom it is found in Scotland, particularly in Stirlingshire, Ayrshire and Orkney, and in England with notable numbers in the Southwest and London. In Ireland it is predominantly situated in Ulster, where the counties of Down and Antrim have the highest concentrations. The name has also migrated abroad, and small communities of Caddell descendants are found in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
There are many variants of the modern surname that reflect historical spelling changes and anglicisation. These include Cadell, Cadwell, Caudwell, Cadwallader and, in the United States, Cadel. The diverse spellings attest to the enduring presence of the family in multiple linguistic and cultural contexts over the centuries, and they continue to be used by contemporary bearers of the name.
Typical given names associated with the Caddell surname
Male
- Andrew
- Colin
- David
- John
- Joseph
- Joshua
- Michael
- Paul
- Robert
- Sean
- Stuart
- Thomas
- William
Female
- Allison
- Ann
- Claire
- Elaine
- Julie
- Karen
- Laura
- Linda
- Lisa
- Lorraine
- Margaret
- Mary
- Ruth
- Sarah
- 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 Caddell in...
Braille
⠉⠁⠙⠙⠑⠇⠇
Morse
-.-..--..-....-...-..
Semaphore
There are approximately 329 people named Caddell in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around five in a million people in Britain are named Caddell.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
