Odle History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Odle name has descended through the generations from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. Their name comes from having lived in Odell, or Woodhill, which were in Bedsfordshire. The surname Odle comes from the Old English words wad, and hyll, which mean woad (a plant collected for the blue dye produced by its leaves), and hill.

Early Origins of the Odle family

The surname Odle was first found in Bedfordshire (Old English: Bedanfordscir), located in Southeast-central England, formerly part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.

Early History of the Odle family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Odle research. Another 82 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Odle History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Odle Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Odle has undergone many spelling variations, including Odell, O'Dell, Odehull, Wodehull, Wodhull and others.

Early Notables of the Odle family

More information is included under the topic Early Odle Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Odle Ranking

In the United States, the name Odle is the 8,363^rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Migration of the Odle family to Ireland

Some of the Odle family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Odle migration to the United States +

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Odle were among those contributors:

Odle Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Peter Odle, who arrived in Virginia in 1657 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Odle (post 1700) +

Lou Odle, American football coach for the Sterling Warriors 1940 to 1941
Robert C. Odle Jr., American lawyer, former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy
Dennis Odle, American politician, Candidate for Mayor of Waterbury, Connecticut, 2007 3
Alan Odle (1888-1948), English illustrator, husband of the English novelist Dorothy Richardson

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 3) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html