Nowell
A surname usually treated as a spelling of Noel, originally linked to Christmas or to a place-name like Noyers/Nowers in France or England.
The #5,676 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,515 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Historical surname writers gave Nowell two main explanations. One is that it is simply a spelling of Noel, from Old French "noel" meaning Christmas, and thus originally a name for a child born at that season. Another line of explanation connects it with place-names such as Nowers/Noiers or with the de Noailles family, but some older authors treated that French noble origin as unlikely and thought the resemblance of sound was misleading.
History
Bardsley grouped Nowell with other old "font-names" based on feast days and holy seasons, showing that the Christmas explanation was long current in English surname lore. Lower, however, also noted an old York family of Nowell who traced themselves to Adam de Nowell in the time of Henry I, suggesting an early local English branch. Later surname manuals often cross-referenced Nowell under Noel or linked it to French place-names, so the record is mixed rather than settled.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older English naming practice, Christmas-season surnames were not unusual: Noel/Nowell sat alongside names like Easter, Pentecost, and Candlemass.
From the historical record
“iucxiicrieuced person." Bailey. NOWELL. 1. Probably the same as Noel. 2. The Nowela of Rede, now Nether- side, CO. York, deduce their pedigree from Adam de Nowell, who flourished there temp. Henry I. B.L.G. The presumption of a descent from the noble fami!}' of De Noailles in France, seems to have no other…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom