Mel History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Mel family

The surname Mel was first found in Somerset where Mells (St. Andrew), is a civil parish, in the union of Frome, in the hundred of Mells and Leigh. The parish dates back to pre-Domesday Book and was known as Milne in 942 derived from the Old English word "myln." 1 By the time of the Domesday Book the name place name had evolved to "Mulle" or "Mulne" which meant "several mills." At that time, it was part of the land of St Mary of Glastonbury and held land big enough for 20 ploughs. The mill was also operative. 2 In Suffolk, Mells is a hamlet in the parish of Wenshaston in the union and hundred of Blything. This hamlet has always been much smaller than the Somerset locale as in the early 19th century the Somerset village had 1,261 residents while the Suffolk hamlet had only 123.

Early History of the Mel family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Mel research. Another 139 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1103, 1177, 1449, 1455, 1487, 1510, 1560 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Mel History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Mel Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Mell, Mel, Melle, Mele and others.

Early Notables of the Mel family

Distinguished members of the family include

the Mell family of Rendlesham

Mel migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Mel Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John Mel, who landed in New York, NY in 1833 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Mel (post 1700) +

Ronald Joseph Godfrey Mel (1925-2024), known as Ronnie de Mel, was a Sri Lankan civil servant and politician
Mel Fitzgerald (1952-2023), CM, was a Canadian retired Paralympic athlete. He competed in athletics in the 1980 and 1984 Paralympics, winning eight medals
Mel James (1948-2022), Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s
Mel McCurrie, American Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Perceptive Automata
Mel Brez (1936-2020), American television soap opera writer
Mel Dinelli (1912-1991), American writer for theatre, radio, film and magazines
Mel Hurtig OC (1932-2016), Canadian publisher, author, political activist, President of the Edmonton Art Gallery, publisher of The Canadian Encyclopedia in 1985
Mel Haber (1936-2016), American philanthropist, and hotel and restaurant proprietor
Mel Hailey, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Texas, 1980; Candidate for Texas State House of Representatives 71st District, 2006 4
Mel Boudrot (b. 1970), American actor, known for his work in All My Children, The Deadliest Season (1977) and The Doctors (1963)

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
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 2016, August 18) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html