8,063 Global Angell Family Members

Angell Family History

This unusual and interesting name is of early medieval English and French origin. It is an example of the many "nickname" surnames created during the Middle Ages; in this instance, the surname derives from the Middle English and Old French word "angel(e)", meaning angel or messenger, from the Latin "angelus", itself from the Greek "angelos", messenger. As a nickname this would have been bestowed on someone considered to have an angelic temperament or appearance, and it could also have been a "pageant" name, given to one who had played the part of an angel in a mystery play or pageant.