Origin
Bell : 1: English (northern) and Scottish (Lowlands): from the Middle English personal name Bell. As a man's name this is from Old French beu bel ‘handsome’ which was also used as a nickname. As a female name it represents a short form of Isabel.2: English (northern) and Scottish (Lowlands): from Middle English belle ‘bell’ (Old English belle) in various applications; most probably a metonymic occupational name for a bell ringer or bell maker or a topographic name for someone living ‘at the bell’ (as attested by 14th-century forms such as John atte Belle). This indicates either residence by an actual bell (e.g. a town's bell in a bell tower centrally placed to summon meetings sound the alarm etc.) or ‘at the sign of the bell’ i.e. a house or inn sign (although surnames derived from house and inn signs are rare in Scots and English).3: English: from Middle English bel ‘fair fine good’ (Old French bel ‘beautiful fair’). See also Beal 1.4: German: from Bell in Rhineland or possibly from Belle in Westphalia.5: Norwegian: habitational name from a farmstead in western Norway named Bell the origin of which is unexplained.6: Scandinavian: of English or German origin (see above).7: Americanized form of German Böhl or Böll (see Boehle Boll).8: American shortened and altered form of various Slavic names beginning with Bel- ‘white’ e.g. of Rusyn (from Slovakia) Belejčák a derivative of Belej (see Beley 3).9: Americanized form of one or more similar (like-sounding) Jewish surnames.
Apte : Indian (Maharashtra): Konkanastha Brahmin name apparently from Marathi apṭa denoting the yellow bell orchid tree Bauhinia tomentosa which has medicinal properties.
Belchamber : presumably for the keeper of a bellchamber the room where bells were hung in a bell tower or in a belfry from Middle English (Old English) belle ‘bell’ + Middle English (Old French) chambre ‘room’. However the compound is not recorded in OED before 1848. A keeper of a bellchamber may also have been the bell ringer.
Belden : 1: English (Norfolk): either a habitational name from Beldon Hill in Manningham Yorkshire or a variant of Baildon a habitational name from Baildon Yorkshire. Compare Beldon the northern English form of this surname.2: Norwegian: habitational name from a farm name in western Norway from bell ‘floor; peat layer’.
Beller : 1: English: occupational name for a bell founder or bell ringer from Middle English beller an agent derivative of Old English belle ‘bell’. Compare Bell 2.2: German: habitational name for someone from any of several places called Bell in North Rhine-Westphalia or Bellen near Bremen.3: German: nickname for a quarreller from Middle High German bellen ‘to bicker quarrel’.4: German: from the ancient Germanic personal name Baldher (see Belter).5: Hungarian (Bellér): variant of Böllér (see Boller).
Bellhouse : from Middle English bel-hous ‘detached bell-house or belfry’ (Old English bell-hūs) or from a place so called such as Bell House in Mytholmroyd and Bellhouses in Sheffield (both WR Yorks). This name may have become confused with Bellis especially in Cheshire.
Bellman : 1: English and Scottish: occupational name for a bell ringer in particular one whose duty was to make public announcements after ringing a bell to attract attention (from Middle English bel(le)man a term known to have been used in York and Scotland and probably elsewhere for a town crier). Compare Bell.2: English: occupational name from Middle English beli-man ‘bellows blower’ from Middle English beli ‘bellows’. Compare Bellow.3: Altered form of German Bellmann. This surname is also found in Sweden.
Bellmann : North German:: 1: habitational name for someone from Belle in Westphalia Bell in the Rhineland or Bellen near Bremen.2: in Saxony from a pet form of the ancient Germanic personal name Baldwin.
Billiter : 1: English (Surrey): occupational name for a bell-founder from Middle English belleyetere ‘bell-founder’. Compare Billeter. It is unlikely that there would have been enough work to keep anyone employed exclusively in making bells and there is evidence that bell makers were general founders engaged for the most part in making smaller domestic items such as pots and buckles. This surname has now died out in Britain. Compare Geater.2: Americanized form of Swiss German Billeter.
Campanile : Italian (Bari): topographic name for someone who lived by a bell tower campanile or a habitational name from a place called for its bell tower.
Campano : 1: Italian (southern): habitational name from medieval Greek kampanos ‘from Campania’ or a habitational name for someone from any of various places called Campo.2: Spanish: nickname or occupational name from campano ‘little bell cow bell’.3: Spanish: habitational name from Campano in Cádiz province.
Clapper : 1: English (Yorkshire): topographic name from Middle English claper generally denoting someone who lived by a rabbit warren. In southern counties however it often denoted a clapper bridge a rough or natural bridge across a stream. The Devon clapper bridge common on Dartmoor was made of flat stones laid across stone pillars. Alternatively a nickname for a chatterer from Middle English claper ‘the tongue of a bell or of a noisy person’.2: Americanized form of German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) Klapper ‘chatterer’.
Fesperman : Americanized form of German Vespermann:: 1: in northern Germany a topographic name for someone living by a field named as Fesper.2: in the south of Germany probably an occupational name or nickname for someone who rang the bell for vespers (the canonical hour) or more likely for a meal in the afternoon which Vesper came to mean.
Glock : German: from Middle High German glocke ‘bell’ hence a topographic name for someone who lived by the bell tower of a church a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by the sign of a bell or a metonymic occupational name for a sexton (who among other duties was responsible for ringing the church bell) or a town crier (who used a handbell to draw attention).
Hannibal : 1: German: from a post-humanist personal name Hannibal (see 2 below).2: English: post-medieval variant of Annable from Middle English Amabil Annabel. This female personal name fell out of fashion in the late Middle Ages and the source of the surname was no longer recognized. It was re-interpreted in the 16th century by classically educated gentlemen as being the name of the Carthaginian general Hannibal (247–182 BC). The surname was also sometimes later re-etymologized as honey + ball or bell hence spellings such as Honeyball and Hunnibell. In this new guise it coincided with an established variant of Annable with initial H-.
Klipfel : German: from Middle High German klüpfel klöpfel klüppel ‘mallet cudgel clapper (of a bell)’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of cudgels and mallets or clappers for bells or a metonymic occupational name for a butcher a stone-breaker. This name also became established in Greece by followers of King Otto of Bavarian origin.
Klock : Dutch and North German:: 1: nickname from Middle Dutch or Low German cloec clo(o)c ‘deft skillful clever’.2: topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by the sign of a bell Middle High German glocke Middle Dutch clocke. In some instances this may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a bell maker or bell ringer.3: nickname from de Kloke ‘the wise one’ from Middle Low German kloke ‘wise person’.
Kloeckner : North German (Klöckner): from Middle Low German clockener status or occupational name for a bell ringer sexton or the like from an agent derivative of Klock. Compare Cleckner Clickner Kleckner and Klickner.
Panelli : Italian:: 1: patronymic or plural form of a diminutive of Pane.2: habitational name from Panelli a district of Sant'Angelo a Cupolo in Benevento province.3: from the plural of panello denoting in Tuscany a bundle of oily rags used as a torch for towers or bell towers.4: patronymic or plural form of Panella.
Reutov : Russian: patronymic from a nickname based on reut ‘the biggest bell of a church’.
Ringer : 1: English: occupational name for a maker of rings and other items of jewelry from Middle English ringer(e) a derivative of the noun ring. An alternative possibility is that some ringers were makers of chain mail. Compare Ring.2: English: occupational name for someone whose function was to ring church bells or a bell in a procession Middle English ringer(e) agent noun derived from ringen ‘to ring’.3: English: from the Middle English personal name Rainger Reinger (Old French Reinger from ancient Germanic Reginger from ragin regin ‘counsel decision’ + gēr ‘spear’).4: English: possibly an occupational name from a derivative of Middle English wringen ‘to wring or squeeze’ perhaps used for a wringer or presser of cheese.5: English: possibly from the Middle English personal name Ringer (Old English Hringhere ‘ring’ + ‘army’).6: German: occupational name for a turner someone who made objects by rotating them on a lathe or wheel.
Son : 1: Korean: written 손 in Chinese characters 孫 meaning ‘grandson’. This is the only Chinese character for the surname Son. Some sources mention as many as 118 clans for the Son family but only seven can be documented. According to legend the Son clan's founding ancestor was named Kuryema (俱 禮馬) and was one of the six pre-Shilla elders who made Pak Hyŏkkŏse (朴 赫居世) the first king of Shilla (孫 順). The first documented ancestor however was called Son Sun (孫 順). Sun is said to have lived a poverty-stricken existence in the Shilla period and his rise from poverty to prosperity is the subject of legends. His son was a voracious eater and ate Sun's old mother's food as well as his own. Sun feeling that he could always get another son but that his mother was irreplaceable decided to go into the mountains to bury his son. When he dug into the ground however he found a bell. He hung the bell on a nearby tree and rang it. So loud and clear was the cry of the bell that the king heard it in the palace below and came to investigate. The king was amazed at the bell and gave Sun a house and food. Later a Buddhist temple was built on that spot. The founding ancestor of the Iljik (or Andong) Son clan originally bore the surname Sun but during the reign of Koryŏ king Hyŏnjong (1009–31) Sun was changed to Son. Compare Shon 1 Sohn 2 and Sun 7.2: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 宋 see Song 3.3: Vietnamese (Sơn): from the Chinese surname 山 see Shan 2.4: English: from Middle English sone (Old English sunu) ‘son’ hence a distinguishing epithet for a son who shared the same personal name as his father. Compare Fitz.5: English: from the early Middle English personal name Sunne representing either an Old English personal name Sunna or the Old Norse personal name Súni (derived from the word for ‘son’) or the Old Norse female name Sunna perhaps a pet form of Sunnifa itself a Scandinavianized form of Old English Sunngifu.6: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Sohn or Sonn.7: Dutch (also Van Son): habitational name for someone from Son near Eindhoven.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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