Buell
Buell is an English surname, probably from a nickname or place-name source, later carried widely in the United States.
The #5,338 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,339 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Buell is generally treated as English in origin, but its exact source is not secure. It may have arisen as a nickname surname from a short form or altered form of an older word or personal name, or it may be a local surname from a now-lost or obscure place-name. Because the historical evidence is thin and the forms are hard to trace, the safest explanation is that it is an old English surname of uncertain derivation.
History
The name is found in early modern and later records in Britain and North America, but the surviving evidence does not point clearly to a single origin story. It became established in the United States, where it is now most familiar. The surname is relatively uncommon today, which fits with its limited and somewhat obscure documentary trail.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century Boston surname list includes Buell among names still in use in the city, showing it was already established in local records by that time.
From the historical record
“NAMES STILL EXTANT IN BOSTON. 427 BUDDEN, BUDDROAV, BuELL, BuHL, BuiTEKANT, BuKER, BUKUP, BULLEN, BULLENS, BuLLING, BuLLIS, BuLL- ZINGSLEWEN, BuNCE, BuNCHER, BuNDY, BuNTEN, BURCHELL, BURCHER, BURCKES, BuRCKLE, BuRDAKIN, BuRDETT and Burditt, Burge, Burkett, Burkiiard,”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)