This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. —the son of Bell,' i.e. Isabel; nick. Bella or Bell; v. Belson.

Bela le Barber, Huntingdonshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Bella or Bele Cotty, Lincolnshire, ibid.

Nicholas fil. Bele, Bedfordshire, ibid.

Bele Scampeyn, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

(2) Nick. 'le bel,' i.e. the beautiful.

Ralph le Bele, Cambridgeshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Hugh le Bel, Oxfordshire, ibid.

Thomas le Bel, Suffolk, ibid.

Robert le Bell, mayor of Bristol, 1239: History and Antiquities of Bristol.

(3) Local, 'at the Bell,' i.e. an inn-sign, or one who dwelt by the bell, i.e. bell-chamber.

John atte Belle. Camden Society Publications.

Richard atte Bell, 1307. Writs of Parliament.

John atte Belle (London). Riley's Memorials of London.

Roger atte Bell, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Three derivations are possible for this name: (1) as a descriptive sobriquet, Peter le Bel ('the handsome,' from OF. Del, handsome, beautiful), found in the English Hundred Rolls; (2) of local origin, as ME. 'John atte Belle' or 'Richard atte Bell' (not uncommon in ME. registers) from the sign of his public house; (3) as a metronymic, Robert fil. Bell,' meaning Robert, the son of Bell or Isabel. 1 and 2 are, I think, the chief parents of the name. John Bell appears as a notary in St. Andrews, 1248 (Pap. Lett., I, p. 245). A family of the name appears to have been hereditarily connected with the church of Dunkeld. Master David Bell was a canon there, 1263 (LIM., p. 77), and William Bell appears as dean, 1329—42 (Pap Lett., I, p. 301,557). William Bel, vicar of Lamberton, witnessed a charter to Coldingham Priory, 1271. Adam Belle and Richard Belle of Berwickshire rendered homage, 1296 (Bain, II, p. 206). Thomas Belle was juror on an inquest at Dumfries, 1304 (ibid., p. 412), and Simon dictus Bell is in Perth in the reign of David II (Scon, p. 125). Thomas dictus Bell, canon of Dunkeld, c 1340 (ibid., p. 124). Thomas Bell and Alan Bell witnessed confirmation of Snawdoun to the Abbey of Dryburgh, c. 1350 (Dryburgh, 232), Johnne Bell was a witness in St. Andrews, 1463 (CMN., 33), and Henry Bell was a witness in Arnbroath, 1528 (Laing, 369). The name was common on the Border for centuries, and the 'Beilis' are included in the list of unruly clans in the West Marches, 1587 (APS., III, p. 466). The Bells of Annan dale are said to be descended from Gilbert le fiz Bel, who was deprived of his lands by Edward I (Bain, II, p. 397). Families of the name long predominated in the parish of Middlebie insomuch that the 'Bells of Middlebie' was a current phrase throughout Dumfriesshire. In the index to REB. the name is confused with the place name Biel. Patrick de Dunbar dominus de Bele is indexed under Bell. Robert Bell, born in Scotland, printer of the first edition of Thomas Paine's Common sense died in Virginia, 1784. Rev. Patrick Bell (1800—1869) was inventor of the reaping-machine and founder of mechanical harvesting. (4) In Islay and Kintyre Bell is used as an Englishing of Mac Illtnamhaoil. This is said to have arisen from the marriage of a Macmillan with a Miss Bell, who possessed property, and took her name in English, but continued the old name in Gaelic.] BELLEW. Recorded in Aberdeen, and most probably a late incomer from across the Border. Harrison says from Bellou or Belleau in France, and Lower mentions Belleau, a parish in Lincolnshire. Gilbert de Beleawe witnessed gift of the 'eschalingas i Lambremore' to the church of Kelso by William de Vyerpunt c. 1160 (Kelso, p. 257).

(English) Dweller at the sign of, or by, a Bell. [Middle English O.E .belle, a bell] John atte Belle.— Camd. Soc. Publ.

First there is Maister Peter at the Bell, A linen-draper and a wealthy man.

—Pasquin, Night-Cap (1612); Lower, English Surn. I. 211, (Anglo-French-Latin) Fair, Handsome. [Middle English bel(e, Old French bel, Latin bell-us] Walter le Bid.—Cal. Rot. Orig.

Good aventure, O bele nece, have ye Ful lightly founden, and ye conne it take! —Chaucer, Trail and Cris., ii. 288-9.

(Anglo-French-Hebrew) a diminutive of Isabel.

This name, mainly found in the four north-eastern counties of Ulster, is among the ten most numerous, purely English names in Ireland. Bibl. MIF 282*

“Beautiful” (Bel) in Old French. Also a house or inn sign.

(English) Dweller at the sign of the bell; the handsome one; descendant of Bel, a pet form of Isabel (oath to Baal).

This common surname is doubtless le Bel, Old French for fine, handsome; and in this form it is found in the H.R. The chief habitation of the Bells has long been on the Scottish border. In a MS. of 1590, relating to the defences of that district, we find in Cumberland, under Bridekirk, this entry: "About them is a great surname of Bells and Carlisles, who have been long in feud with the Irwyns." Again: "In Gilsland is no great surname: the Belles is the most." Archteolog. XXII. p. 169-70.

A name taken from the sign of an inn or shop. The sign of a bell was frequently used. "John at the Bell" became "John Bell."Bel, French, beautiful, handsome, fine.

From Le Bel, a surname which frequently occurs in Normandy, 1180-98 (Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae).

From the Old Norse, Beli; from the Frisian, Bela, Bêl, Bele; from the Swedish, Bell; from the Dutch, Bel; from the Flemish, Baele, Beli; a personal name.

Bell. —This surname probably, in most cases, has been derived from the Norman name Le Bel (the handsome man), which is to be found in the Hundred Rolls of the thirteenth century, mostly in Oxfordshire, and is at the present time well represented in the neighbouring counties of Northampton and Bucks. Its habitation in the Midlands is, however, of small importance, in comparison with the great home of the Bells in the English and Scottish counties on and near the border, namely, in Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland, Dumfriesshire, and the neighbouring Scottish counties, where they have herded for more than three centuries, as we are informed by Lower.