Origin
Noel : 1: French and Walloon (Noël); English: from the Old French personal name Noël Middle English Noel from Old French no(u)el ‘Christmas’ (from Latin natalis (dies) ‘birthday’) used for someone born during the Christmas period. Alternatively a nickname for someone who had some special connection with the Christmas season such as owing the particular feudal duty of providing a yule-log to the lord of the manor or having given a memorable performance as the Lord of Misrule. This surname is also found in the Flemish part of Belgium. Compare Christmas and Newell.2: English: sometimes a post-medieval variant of Knowle and Knoll (see Knowles). The loss of /k/ before /n/ is known in everyday speech by the 17th century and may have been earlier.
Christmas : 1: English (southeastern): nickname from Middle English Criste(s)masse -messe ‘Christmas Day’ also ‘the Christmas season’ perhaps for someone who was born at Christmas or one who played the part of the King of Christmas in Yuletide games. The name was also established in County Waterford Ireland in 1622.2: Americanized form (translation into English) of French Noël (see Noel).
Cowell : 1: Irish and Manx: shortened form of McCawell an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Cathmhaoil ‘son of Cathmhaol’ (literally ‘battle chief’). Compare Caulfield. Alternatively a shortened form of Gaelic Mac (Giolla) Comhghaill ‘son of (the devotee of) Saint Comhghal’. Compare Cool.2: Irish: shortened form of McCool.3: English: habitational name from any of the places in Lancashire and Gloucestershire called Cowhill from Old English cū ‘cow’ + hyll ‘hill’ or from Cowleigh Park in Worcestershire. The modern pronunciation rhymes with trowell.4: English: variant of Cole in many English counties especially Essex with a similar pronunciation to either coal or Noel.5: Americanized form of Polish and perhaps also Rusyn (from Poland) or Jewish (from Poland) Kowal ‘blacksmith’.
Jean-Noel : French (mainly Vosges mainly Jeannoël) and West Indian (mainly Haiti; Jean-Noël also Jeannoël in the US also Jeannoel): from the personal name Jean-Noël a compound of Jean and Noël (see Noel). This surname is very rare in France. It was brought to the US from the West Indies (mostly Haiti).
Newell : 1: English (of Norman origin): variant of Neville.2: English: variant of Noel.3: English: variant of Newhall.4: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Tnúthghail ‘descendant of Tnúthgal’ a personal name composed of the elements tnúth ‘desire envy’ + gal ‘valor’.5: Americanized form of French Noël (see Noel); compare 2 above.
Noe : 1: German Dutch and English (London); French and Spanish (Noé); Catalan (Noè): from the Biblical personal name Noach ‘Noah’ which means ‘comfort’ in Hebrew. According to the Book of Genesis Noah having been forewarned by God built an ark into which he took his family and representatives of every species of animal and so was saved from the flood that God sent to destroy the world because of human wickedness. The personal name was not common among non-Jews in the Middle Ages but the Biblical story was an extremely popular subject for miracle plays. In many cases therefore the surname probably derives from a nickname referring to someone who had played the part of Noah in a miracle play or pageant rather than from a personal name. The usual English form of the surname is Noy.2: French (Noë): habitational name from La Noë the name of several places in the northern part of France derived from the Gaulish word nauda ‘water meadow boggy place’; it is a cognate of Noue (see Lanoue) and in North America possibly also an altered form of this.3: French (Noé): variant of Noël (see Noel).4: French (Noé): habitational name from any of several places so named ultimately from Latin nucarius ‘walnut tree’.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
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