KETTLEWELL
The surname Kettlewell is an English locational name. It traces its origin to the Old English elements “kettle”, a large cooking cauldron, and “well”, a source of water. The name was originally applied to a person who lived near a well where kettles were used for cooking or boiling water, or to an individual who made or sold such kettles.
Historical records indicate that the name is of Anglo‑Saxon origin. A place called Kettlewell in the West Riding of Yorkshire is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “Chetelewelle”, in a Yorkshire charter of 1173 as “Keteluella”, and in the 1222 Feet of Fines as “Ketelwell”. The name derives from a Scandinavianised form of the Old English pre‑7th‑century word “cetel”, meaning a deep valley, combined with “well”, a spring or stream. A second place bearing the same name is a hamlet north‑west of St‑Albans in Hertfordshire, which likewise derives its name from the elements “cetel‑wella”.
Locational surnames were first given to local landowners, the lord of a manor, or to residents who migrated from their place of origin. The earliest surviving references to the surname are the 1379 Poll‑Tax Returns of Yorkshire, where a John Ketelwel and an Alessander Katelwell are listed. Subsequent documentary evidence includes the 1563 marriage of Joseph Kettlewell to Margaret Sandeman in Settrington, Yorkshire, and the 1565 marriage of John Kettlewell to Elizabeth Bellingham in Chipping Barnet, Hertfordshire.
Notable bearers of the name have contributed to religious scholarship. John Kettlewell (1653‑1695) was a devotional writer and tutor at Lincoln College, Oxford, where he received an M.A. in 1677. Samuel Kettlewell, who lived from 1822 to 1839, was a licentiate of theology at Durham; he earned an M.A. in 1860 and a D.D. in 1892 and published works on Thomas a Kempis and other theological subjects.
The first recorded spelling of the family name dates to 1272, identified as “Stephen de Ketelwelle” in the Records of Yorkshire. This appears during the reign of King Edward I, who ruled from 1272 to 1307 and was known as “The Hammer of the Scots”.
Typical given names associated with the Kettlewell surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- Ian
- James
- John
- Mark
- Paul
- Richard
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Angela
- Christine
- Claire
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Jane
- Jean
- Julie
- Laura
- Margaret
- Mary
- 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 Kettlewell in...
Braille
⠅⠑⠞⠞⠇⠑⠺⠑⠇⠇
Morse
-.-.--.-....--..-...-..
Semaphore
There are approximately 1,307 people named Kettlewell in the UK. That makes it roughly the 5,990th most common surname in Britain. Around 20 in a million people in Britain are named Kettlewell.
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
Famous people named Kettlewell
- Stuart Kettlewell - Scottish football player
- Bernard Kettlewell - Lepidopterist (1907 to 1979)
- Ruth Kettlewell - Actress (1913 to 2007)
- Henry Kettlewell - Cricketer (1876 to 1963)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.