Sorrell
A nickname surname probably referring to a reddish-brown complexion or hair, from an old word for sorrel-colored.
The #4,104 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 35,730 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Sorrell is generally explained as a nickname surname from Old French sorel, a diminutive form meaning something like “reddish-brown” or “sorrel-colored.” In medieval naming, this kind of color term could describe a person’s hair, skin, or general appearance. The same word was also used for the young deer known as a “sorel,” which reinforced the color sense in English usage.
History
The surname appears in medieval records in forms such as Sor, Sorel, and Sorrell, and was already being discussed by 19th-century surname scholars as a color-based nickname. English writers also used the term in literature to describe hair color, showing that the word stayed recognizable well beyond the Middle Ages. The modern surname likely survives through several related spellings that were gradually fixed in different families.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley notes the same color word behind medieval nicknames like William le Sor or Sorrell, alongside other color surnames such as Brown, Black, and Russell.
From the historical record
“king Charles VII. See Sore. SORRELL. See Sorel. SORTAIN. Soartin, or Soartinus, is found in the Domesday of Hampshire ; but the few existing Englishmen of the name descend from ancestors who settled in England after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685, and are of the same familj' as M. Sortin, one of the…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom