This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the borel,' originally a term for a kind of coarse cloth. Afterwards used adjectively for a comely man, a peasant, a countryman; v. Historical English Dictionary, s. v. Burel (also v. Burler, ibid). Borel was also used as a personal name.

Johanna, relicta Burel, Oxfordshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Burellus de Rathesnese, Norfolk, ibid.

Emma Burel, Norfolk, ibid.

Willelmus Burell, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Johannes Borell, 1379: ibid.

William Burel, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

1627. Baptised — Robert, s. William Burrell: St. James, Clerkenwell.

(a) Local, 'of Burrel,' a township in the parish of Bedale, North Riding Yorkshire.

(Anglo-French-Latin) 1 Of Reddish-Brown Complexion [Old French burel —bu(i)re, reddish-brown + the diminutive suff. ~(e)l; Latin burrus, Greek πvρρός, reddish] Emma Burel.—Hundred Rolls Burel is still a fairly common French surname.

2 a nickname from the coarse brown cloth so called: a Peasant, Workman [Middle English Old French burel, borel, a coarse brown (or grey) woollen cloth (French bure(au, drugget); Old French bu(i)re, reddish-brown, as above] But, sires, by-cause I am a burel man, At my bigynnyng first I yow biseche, Have me excused of my rude speche.

Chaucer, Cant. Tales, F 716-8.

(English) 1 belonging to Burrell = prob. the Borough or Castle Slope, or Corner [Old English burh, a stronghold, &c. + heal(h] 2 Cupbearer, Butler [Old English byrele]

“Reddish-Brown” in Old French (Burel). Also “Unlearned” in Old English (Borel).

(English) One who came from Burrill (hill of the fort), in the North Riding of Yorkshire; one who made, or wore, burel, a coarse brown woolen cloth.

Plain, rude, unpolished. ' Borel-clerks,' lay clerks; ' borel-folks,' laymen. The Franklin in Chaucer says in his prologue —

Borel is used by Chaucer in the sense of lay, as borel—clerhs—lay—clerks. It may be a corruption of Borrail (which see).

From Burrell; a location name in Yorkshire Or from the French, Burel; In the Domesday Book, Borel; a personal name.

Burrell has long been a Lincolnshire name. In Cromwell's time, Sir John Burrell of Dunsby and Redman Burrell, Esq., of Fulbeck, compounded their estates for £687 and £770 respectively (O.). The name is also now found in Norfolk. Burrell was the name of a noted family of Kent and Sussex during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, and one of the Burrells of Beckenham, Kent, was high sheriff of Kent in 1722; Northumberland is stated to have been the home of the family in the reign of Edward I. (Hasted's "Kent"). In 1748 Peter Burrell, Esq., of St. John's College, Cambridge, presented a statue of Glory to the University (Cooper's "Cambridge").