Maxwell Family of North America

The surname Maxwell is a Scottish: habitational name from a place in Kelso near Melrose in Roxburghshire the name of a salmon pool on the Tweed near Kelso Bridge. The placename is first recorded in 1144 in the form Mackeswell ‘Mack's spring or stream’ (Old English well(a)). Irish: adopted for Ó Meisceall see Miskell . This surname is common in Ulster. Jewish: arbitrary adoption of the Scottish name or Americanized form of one or more similar (like-sounding) Jewish surnames.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022