This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Turold,' popularly Tirrell. There can be no doubt as to the personal or baptismal origin of the surname. And it will account for the name of Walter Tyrrel, as a reference to the Index of Freeman's History Norman Conquest will conclusively prove the popularity of Turold in the nth century.

Henry Tyrel Devon, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Walter Tyrel, Norfolk, ibid.

Roger Tirel, Herefordshire, Henry III-Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

William Torel, Somerset, 20 Edward I: Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III.

John Tyrell, Kent, ibid.

Hugh Tyrel, Southamptonshire, ibid.

Thomas Torel, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Katerina Terell, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1623. John Tirell and Jane Stokes: Marriage Lic. (London).

1624. Peter Drapier and Barbara Tirrill: ibid.

1641. George Tyrell and Anne Thurlow: ibid.

(Anglo-French-Teut.), the 13th cent. Tirel, Tirell, Tyrel, Tyrell, weak forms of the Domesday Turold, Turald, Old Norse Thor(u)ald-r (Anglo-Saxon Thurw(e)ald)-Thor - Ruler [Old Norse Thór-r + uald-r, ruler; tiald, power, might] Rad’ Tirell,—Charter-Rolls, A.D. 1203-4.

Walter Tyrel.—Hand-Rolls, A.D. 1274.

Edward Tirell et Thomas Tyrell.—Inq. ad q. Damn., temp. Hen. VI.

The French surnames Tirel, later Tireau,Thirel, later Thireau, are considered by some French writers to be referable to Thierry: v. Terry.

(Anglo-French-Scand.) theFrench Turrel, a descendant of the O.Scand. Thor(u)ald-r: v. under Thorald, and cp. Tirrell.

(English) One who came from Tirril (wooden hut), in Westmorland; descendant of Tirrell, a variant of Turold or Thorold (Thor, strong).

The name of Tyrrell in one form and another was in early times much more common than it is at present. As Tyrel and Tirel it occurred in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, and Devonshire in the reign of Edward I. (H. R.). In the 15th and 16th centuries the distinguished families of the Tyrrels of Bucks and the Tyrells of Suffolk seem to have been the two principal stocks. Those of Suffolk, who resided at Gipping, were descended from Sir John Tyrell of Heron, Essex, in the reign of Henry VI., and they claimed also to be the descendants of Sir Walter Tyrrell or Tiril, who accidentally shot William Rufus. The Tirrells or Terrells were a Reading family in the 17th and 18th centuries, and filled the office of mayor in 1668, 1680, 1699, and 1712. The name is still in the town (Lipscomb's "Bucks," Hollingsworth's "Stowmarket," Coate's "Reading").