Follow
Welsh and English: in the Welsh border counties from the Welsh male personal name Hywel ‘eminent’ popular since the Middle Ages particularly in honor of the great 10th-century law-giving Welsh king. The name may also arise from the Breton personal name Houuel Huwel Huwal Howael cognate with the Welsh name. Bretons were especially numerous in the eastern counties of England. See Powell . English: perhaps from a Middle English personal name Huwel (spelled Howel) a shortening of Huwelot or Huelin (see Hewlett and Huling ) both pet forms of Middle English Huw (see Hugh ). English: habitational name from Howell (Lincolnshire) from an uncertain initial element + Old English wella ‘well spring stream’.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022