PICKRELL
Pickrell is a surname of English origin that has persisted through the Middle Ages to the present day. Its occurrences have been recorded in parish registers from the late seventeenth century and earlier documentation in the Pipe Rolls of Norfolk dates the name to 1199, during the reign of King John.
Scholars regard the name as a medieval nickname or a topographic surname. One theory links it to the Old English word picor, meaning a woodpecker; the surname may have been applied to a person who lived near a woodpecker’s habitat or who possessed traits such as a lively spirit or a sharp wit reminiscent of the bird.
Another proposed origin derives from the pre‑tenth century term pykerell, a variant of the word pike meaning a young pike fish. Pike was regarded as a delicacy in ancient times, and the name may have referred either to a fisher of the species or to an individual whose character was described as ferocious or toothy, echoing the fish’s reputation.
A further etymology connects Pickrell to a topographic feature, specifically a pointed hill. The Middle English *pik* or *pick* denoting a pointed object, combined with *hill*, would produce a locational surname for someone dwelling near such a landmark. Each of these explanations has survived in the modern-spelling variants that have proliferated over the centuries.
The orthographic history of the name is marked by a wide array of spellings, including Pickrell, Pickrill, Pickrall, Pickerell, Pickerill, Pickerall, Pyckrell, Pyckelling, Pickel, Picking, Pockel, Pyckering, Pyrkle, Piqueray, Pickering, Rickle and Picquerey. Such variations arose from regional dialects, phonetic interpretations, and the gradual standardisation of English spelling.
In Britain, those bearing the surname are mostly found in England, with isolated concentrations in areas associated with historical settlement in the East of England. In the United States, the name spread with early colonial immigrants, with settlers such as David Pickrell arriving in Maryland in 1713 and later branching into the southern and mid‑western states. By the late nineteenth century, Pickrells were recorded across the eastern and central United States, particularly in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana, and Tennessee, reflecting both the westward movement of families and opportunities for land and economic advancement.
Today, Pickrell remains an uncommon surname in both the United Kingdom and the United States, yet its persistence attests to a long lineage that crosses meanings from natural fauna to geographic features, and survives in a diverse set of spellings that echo its medieval roots.
Typical given names associated with the Pickrell surname
Male
- Adam
- Anthony
- Christopher
- Colin
- David
- John
- Keith
- Lee
- Leo
- Mark
- Michael
- Ryan
- Timothy
- William
Female
- Bethan
- Gemma
- Heidi
- Jennifer
- Julie
- Kathleen
- Lisa
- Liza
- Susan
- Suzanne
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 Pickrell in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 140 people named Pickrell in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around two in a million people in Britain are named Pickrell.
Famous people named Pickrell
- Ray Pickrell - Motorcycle racer (1938 to 2006)
- Tony Pickrell - (1942 to 1)
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.