Bonnell
A surname with a mostly local English history, though some writers also linked it to older continental personal names.
The #7,165 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 66,141 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest early English explanation treats Bonnell as a locational surname, probably from Bonehill in Staffordshire, with the spelling shifting over time through forms like Bonell and Bonnell. That fits the way many medieval surnames were formed from a person's home village or township. Some older surname writers also connected Bonnell with continental diminutive personal names of Germanic origin, but that explanation is less certain for the English surname.
History
Bardsley notes several historical spellings in English records and points to the Staffordshire place-name Bonehill as the likely source. The surname appears in late medieval and early modern English documents, especially in the Midlands and in Chester-area records. Later spellings varied widely, which is typical of surnames that were recorded before spelling was standardized.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley specifically says the Bonehill/Bonnell variants were well known in Staffordshire, showing how tightly some surnames stayed linked to a single county.
From the historical record
“Bonehill, Bootalll. Boaell, Bonnell, — Local, 'of BaDehill,'a township iti the parish of Tam- wortb, CO. Stafford. The variants”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances