(Anglo-French-Latin) a nickname for oneof Rotund proportions [French Rondel-rond, round + the diminutive suff. -el; Latin rotund-us, round] Cp. Round; also the French double diminutive rondelet, ‘plump,’ which also occurs as a surname in France.

A branch of the great baronial house of Cobham, of Kent, adopted this name from their residence at a place so called, in the parish of Shorne in that county. Hasted says: "Randall, formerly called Roundall and Rundale, is a manor in this parish, which, though at present of little repute, was anciently of some note, as being one of the seats of the noble family of Cobham, where they are Baid to have resided before they removed to Cobham Hall." In the XIII. century, John de Cobham gave Rundale to his second son Henry, and his descendants were variously written Roundale, Rundel, Roundall, and Rundella, and so lately as 8 Henry VI. the then proprietor of the estate was styled Lord Thomas de Cobham, alias Rundella, Knight. The elder or Kentish line of the Cobhams terminated in an heiress, and she married Sir John Oldcastle, who was summoned to Parliament in right of his wife, as Baron Cobham, in 1409, and who afterwards became famous as the leader of the Lollards; but it is more than likely that the blood of that ancient race yet flows in the Rundles of the West of England. In the reigns of Edward II., Edward III., and Henry IV., the De Cobhams held lands in Devonshire, Cornwall, and Somersetshire, and some of their connections doubtless planted the family and name of Rondell or Rundle in those counties. Mr. C. S. Gilbert says: "Hole in St. Neot, the seat of John Rundle, gent., has long been the residence of the family, [seven generations]. The surname of this family, which is known to be of great antiquity in Cornwall, is supposed by some to be an abbreviation of the name of Arundell; this, however, appears to be a matter of doubt. The name has been differently spelt, as Rundle, Randall, and Rendall. There are several branches still resident in the neighbourhood of Looe and Liskeard. A branch of Randall who resided at or near Looe, assumed the name of Morth or Murth, (so written in Talland Church) but retained the arms of Randall." Hist. Cornwall, ii. 946.

A contraction of Arundle (which see). Rundle also signifies a sparrow.

From the Swedish, Rondahl; from the Dutch, Rouendal; a location name and personal name.

Rundle is an ancient Cornish name. Hole in St. Neot has been for eight generations the residence of a family of this name (G.). At present the Rundles are best represented in the neighbourhood of St. Columb. The name has also been long established across the Devonshire border. William Rundell was mayor of Plymouth in the reign of Henry VIII. (Worth's "Plymouth"), and the Rundles were Tavistock churchwardens in the time of William and Mary (Worth's "Tavistock Records"). A family of Rundle held Willestrew Manor, Lamerton, in the reign of Henry VIII. (Worthy's "Devonshire Parishes").