TINDALL
Tindall is an English surname that, according to contemporary scholarship, originates from the Old Norse personal name Tindill, which translates as “pointed hill”. The name is therefore a locational surname, indicating that the first bearer lived near or upon a hill of such a description. The suffix -all was a common element in place‑based names and has no medieval English adjectival meaning in this context.
Recordings of the name date back to the twelfth century. The earliest known spelling is that of Adam de Tindal, dated 1165 in the “Pipe Rolls of Northumberland” during the reign of King Henry XI (1154–1189). Subsequent entries include a Thomas Tindall in the Virginia colony of “James Cittie” in February 1623, and the christening of a Hellen Tindall on 13 November 1664 at Torpenhow, Cumbria.
Alternate etymological theories tie the surname to the valley of the River Tyne, known in antiquity as Tynedale (from the pre‑Roman Celtic root Tina, meaning “to flow”, and the Old English doel, “valley”). In this view the surname would denote a person from the Tynedale area, or the nearby location of Tindale in Cumbria, which shares the same linguistic roots. Both explanations agree that the name is fundamentally locational.
Heraldic evidence associated with the Tindall name consists of a silver shield crowned with a red fess dancette, superimposed with three red crescents in chief. The crest is of a gold ducal coronet, from which arises a plume of five silver feathers. This coat of arms has been cited in several parish registers and heraldic compilations and is traditionally attributed to bearers of the Tindall name.
The surname is widely represented across England, particularly in the North‑East (Northumberland, Durham, Cumbria) and the Midlands, with concentrations also found in the North‑West (Shropshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire, Lancashire) and, to a lesser extent, in London and Scotland. It has also maintained a presence in the United Kingdom’s former colonies, where it appears within the top ten thousand surnames in the United States, and is noted comparatively frequently in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Variant forms of the surname include Tindal, Tindell, Tyndale and Tyendall. These spellings reflect orthographic evolution and regional pronunciation differences but are all recognisably linked to the same original place‑based substrate.
Typical given names associated with the Tindall surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Matthew
- Michael
- Paul
- Richard
- Robert
- Simon
Female
- Anne
- Christine
- Claire
- Emma
- Jean
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Mary
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
- Victoria
Similar and related surnames
- Tindal
- Tindale
- Tindel
- Tindell
- Tindle
- Tendall
- Dindale
- Dandolo
- Dandul
- Denatale
- Dendall
- Dendel
- Dendle
- Dinatale
- Dindial
- Dindol
- Donadel
- Donadelli
- Donadello
- Donatella
- Donatelli
- Donatello
- Donatiello
- Dondall
- Duendell
- Dundell
- Dundle
- Tandall
- Tandel
- Tandell
- Tandle
- Tendal
- Tendale
- Tendell
- Tendle
- Tinall
- Tindan
- Tindill
- Tindlay
- Tindol
- Tingdall
- Tinsdall
- Tinsdeall
- Tondelli
- Tundall
- Tundle
- Twindale
- Tyndal
- Tyndale
- Tyndall
- Tyndel
- Tyndell
- Tyndle
- Thindal
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Tindall in...
Braille
⠞⠊⠝⠙⠁⠇⠇
Morse
-..-.-...-.-...-..
Semaphore
There are approximately 3,536 people named Tindall in the UK. That makes it roughly the 2,600th most common surname in Britain. Around 54 in a million people in Britain are named Tindall.
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 Tindall
- Mike Tindall - Rugby union player
- Zara Tindall - Daughter of Princess Anne and Olympic equestrian
- Hilary Tindall - Actress (1938 to 1992)
- Jason Tindall - Football player and manager
- Ron Tindall - Cricketer and football player (1935 to 2012)
- Mike Tindall - Football player
- Mark Tindall - Cricketer (1914 to 1994)
- Victor Tindall - Rugby union player (1928 to 2010)
- Henry Tindall - Cricketer (1863 to 1940)
- Richard Tindall - Football player (1912 to 1942)
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.