Show ContentsBell History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Bell Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Etymology of Bell

What does the name Bell mean?

The Bell surname arose independently from several different sources. In some instances, it comes from the Old English word "belle" meaning "bell," and was most likely an occupational name for a bell ringer. It may have also been a name for someone who lived near a bell. Bell is also known to have arisen from the English and Scottish given name Bel, which derived from the Old French "beu" or "bel," meaning "handsome." 1

"From Le Bel, a surname which frequently occurs in Normandy." 2

Early Origins of the Bell family

The surname Bell was first found in Dumfriesshire. "John Bell appears as a notary in St. Andrews, 1248. A family of the name appears to have been hereditarily connected with the church of Dunkeld. Master David Bell was a canon there, 1263, and William Bell appears as dean, 1329-42. William Bel, vicar of Lamberton, witnessed a charter to Coldingham Priory, 1271." 3

At one time, the Clan Bell was well known on the Scottish West March of the Scottish and English borders. But in 1587, the Parliament of Scotland passed a statute: "For the quieting and keping in obiedince of the disorderit subjectis inhabitantis of the borders hielands and Ilis." This statute disolved the Clan status. 4

Early references to the name in England include Ailuuardus filius Bell listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 in Suffolk; Hugo Bel who was in Winton, Hampshire in 1148; Serlo Belle listed in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1190; as well as Roger del Bel, who was in the Pipe Rolls of Norfolk of 1209. 5

Robert le Bell was Mayor of Bristol in 1239. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had many entries for the name typically with the Old French spelling: Nicholas filius Bele in Bedfordshire; Ralph le Bele in Cambridgeshire; and Hugh le Bel, in Oxfordshire; Thomas le Bel in Suffolk. 6

Early History of the Bell family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bell research. Another 268 words (19 lines of text) covering the years 1069, 1340, 1350, 1463, 1528, 1562, 1577, 1587, 1590, 1603, 1607, 1618, 1640, 1647, 1648, 1668, 1711, 1890 and 1896 are included under the topic Early Bell History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bell Spelling Variations

The name, Bell, occurred in many references, and from time to time, it was spelt Bell, Belle and others.

Early Notables of the Bell family

  • The Blessed Arthur Bell (1590-1618), also known as Francis Bell, who was a Franciscan and English martyr
  • Sir Robert Bell (d. 1577) of Beaupre Hall, Norfolk, Speaker of the House of Commons
  • William Bell (died ca. 1668), an English apothecary and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1648
  • Sir Edmond Bell Of Castle Acre and Beaupre Hall, Norfolk (1562-1607), Justice of the Peace, Norfolk
  • Henry Bell (1647-1711), an English architect who designed many buildings in West Norfolk

Bell World Ranking

the United States, the name Bell is the 58th most popular surname with an estimated 290,979 people with that name. 7 However, in Canada, the name Bell is ranked the 78th most popular surname with an estimated 31,373 people with that name. 8 And in Australia, the name Bell is the 41st popular surname with an estimated 42,630 people with that name. 9 New Zealand ranks Bell as 58th with 5,090 people. 10 The United Kingdom ranks Bell as 48th with 83,942 people. 11 South Africa ranks Bell as 920th with 7,585 people. 12

Migration of the Bell family to Ireland

Some of the Bell family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 83 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bell migration to the United States +

The New World beckoned settlers from the Scottish-English borders. They sailed aboard the armada of sailing ships known as the "White Sails" which plied the stormy Atlantic. Some called them, less romantically, the "coffin ships." Among the early settlers bearing the Bell surname who came to North America were:

Bell Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Mr. John Bell, (b. 1605), aged 30, British settler traveling aboard the ship "Safety" arriving in Virginia in 1635 14
  • George Bell, who settled in Virginia in 1638
  • John Bell who settled in Virginia in 1638
  • Christian Bell, who landed in Virginia in 1650 15
  • Alexander Bell who settled in Virginia in 1654
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Bell Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Johann Frederich Bell, British settler who arrived in New York in 1709 with wife Anna Maria and 4 children
  • Anne Bell, who landed in Virginia in 1713 15
  • Chr Bell, who arrived in Virginia in 1714 15
  • Christopher Bell, who arrived in Virginia in 1716 15
  • Aaron Bell, who arrived in New England in 1719 15
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Bell Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Agnus Bell, who settled in Philadelphia in 1802
  • David Bell, Irish settler who arrived in New Jersey aboard the ship "Protection" in 1811 16
  • Margaret Bell, Irish settler who arrived in New Jersey aboard the ship "Protection" in 1811 16
  • James Bell, Irish settler who arrived in New Jersey aboard the ship "Protection" in 1811 16
  • Abraham Bell, who landed in New York, NY in 1816 15
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bell migration to Canada +

Bell Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
  • Ann Bell, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1750
  • Elizabeth Bell, who settled in Nova Scotia in 1765
  • Robert Bell, who was a laborer in St. John's, Newfoundland, in 1779 17
  • Mr. Derick Bell U.E. who settled in Home District, [Niagara], Lincoln County, Ontario c. 1783 18
  • Mr. Duncan Bell U.E. who settled in Fredericksburgh, Cataraqui township, [Greater Napanee], Ontario c. 1783 18
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Bell Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century
  • Andrew Bell, who landed in Canada in 1819
  • John Bell, aged 20, a tailor, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1833 aboard the schooner "Sarah" from Belfast, Ireland
  • Thomas Bell, aged 30, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Bartley" in 1833
  • Agnes Bell, aged 55, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1833 aboard the ship "Pacific" from Liverpool, England
  • James Bell, aged 30, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Neptune" in 1834
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bell migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia included the First Fleet, Second Fleet and Third Fleet of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

First Fleet
  • Mr. Adam Bell, (1731 - 1790), aged 58, British settler convicted in Yorkshire, England in 1788, sentenced to 7 years for theft, transported aboard the ship "Neptune" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790, may have died on the ship 13
  • Mr. John Bell, (1768 - 1790), aged 21, British settler convicted in Middlesex, England in 1788, sentenced to 7 years for theft, transported aboard the ship "Neptune" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790, may have died on the ship 14
Second Fleet
  • Mr. Adam Bell, British settler convicted in London, England in 1787, sentenced to 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the ship "Matilda" leaving in 1790 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1791 14
Third Fleet
  • Mr. William Bell, (b. 1760), aged 27, English settler convicted in London on 14th January 1784, sentenced for 7 years for highway robbery, transported aboard the ship "Scarborough" leaving in 1787 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1788 14
  • Mr. Jonathon Bell, British seaman on the Navy support ship for the First Fleet the "HMS Sirius" leaving in 1787 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1788
Following the First, Second and Third Fleets, other convicts and early settlers arriving in Australia include:

Bell Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Bell migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Bell Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • George Bell, who landed in Island of Mana, New Zealand in 1832 aboard the ship Minerva
  • George Bell, who landed in Dundee, New Zealand in 1832
  • F Dillon Bell, who landed in Wellington & Nelson, New Zealand in 1840 aboard the ship Ursula
  • H Gordon Bell, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840 aboard the ship Lady Lilford
  • James Bell, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bell migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 22
Bell Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
  • Mr. James Bell, (b. 1616), aged 19, British settler travelling from London, England aboard the ship "Anne and Elizabeth" arriving in Barbados in 1635 23
  • Mr. Thomas Bell, (b. 1621), aged 14, British settler traveling aboard the ship "Matthew" arriving in St Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1635 24
  • Alison Bell, who settled in Barbados in 1670
  • Robert Bell, who settled in Barbados in 1679

Contemporary Notables of the name Bell (post 1700) +

  • Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), Scottish inventor of the telephone, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, emigrated to the United States in 1870, where he was a Professor of Physiology at Boston University, and exhibited his telephone invention in 1870
  • William Hoyet "Whitey" Bell (1932-2025), American basketball player
  • Francis Laney Bell Jr. (1943-2025), American politician, served in the South Carolina State Senate (1983-1984), chairman of the Lancaster County Council
  • Theresa Mae Bell (1909-1992), American corporal in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, first all-female, all-African-American battalion to server overseas
  • Adeline Bell (b. 1920), née Harris, American technician in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, first all-female, all-African-American battalion to server overseas
  • George Bell (1957-2025), tallest man in the United States at 7 ft 8 in (2.34 m) as recognized by Guinness World Records, a deputy sheriff in Norfolk, Virginia, played college basketball at Morris Brown College, Biola University, the Harlem Wizards and Harlem Globetrotters show teams
  • Gregory Curtis Bell (1930-2025), American track and field athlete who won the gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics
  • Virginia Bell (1927-1994), American pitcher and outfielder who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
  • Gordon Bell (1934-2024), born Chester Gordon Bell, an American electrical engineer and manager, designer of several of the DEC PDP machines and later served as the company's Vice President of Engineering from 1972-1983
  • ... (Another 380 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Empress of Ireland
  • Mr. Robert William Bell (d. 1914), British Deck Boy from United Kingdom who worked aboard the Empress of Ireland and died in the sinking 25
  • Mr. Dan Bell (d. 1914), American Third Class Passenger from Detroit, Michigan, United States who was traveling aboard the Empress of Ireland and died in the sinking 26
  • Mr. Frank W. Bell, American employee of the Grover Shoe factory in Brockton, Massachusetts on 20th March 1905 when the boiler exploded and collapsed the wooden building; he died 27
  • Mr. John Francis  Bell (1854-1917), Canadian resident from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who died in the Halifax Explosion (1917) 28
  • Master Stanley  Bell (1912-1917), Canadian resident from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who died in the Halifax Explosion (1917) 29
  • ... (Another 28 entries are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Suggested Readings for the name Bell +

  • Ancestral Lines and Descendants of Frances Emily (Botsfor, Morse and Jean) (Botsford) Bell by Doreen Potter Hanna.
  • Backward Glimpse by Iris Bell.
  • Sir Robert Bell and His Early Virginia Colony Descendants. by James Elton Bell and Frances Jean Bell. Wheatmark, January 2007.
  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
  3. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
  4. Fraser, George MacDonald, The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers HarperCollins Publishers, 1972: Print. (ISBN13: 9780002727464)
  5. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  6. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  7. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  8. "Surnames Meanings, Origins & Distribution Maps - Forebears." Forebears, https://forebears.io/surnames
  9. "Most Common Last Names in Australia." Forebears, https://forebears.io/australia/surnames
  10. "Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
  11. "UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
  12. "Most Common Last Names in South Africa." Forebears, https://forebears.io/south-africa/surnames
  13. Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 4th February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships
  14. Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's. Retrieved October 5th 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
  15. 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)
  16. Passengers from Ireland retrieved 21st October 2021. Retrieved from Passengers From Ireland arriving at American ports between 1811 and 1817 ISBN 0-8063-0870-2
  17. Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0
  18. Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
  19. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 8th September 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-spencer
  20. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th October 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au
  21. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 1st March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/elizabeth
  22. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
  23. Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's. Retrieved 23rd September 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
  24. Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's (Retrieved October 4th 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
  25. Commemoration Empress of Ireland 2014. (Retrieved 2014, June 17) . Retrieved from http://www.empress2014.ca/seclangen/listepsc1.html
  26. Commemoration Empress of Ireland 2014. (Retrieved 2014, June 16) . Retrieved from http://www.empress2014.ca/seclangen/listepsc1.html
  27. California Digital Newspaper from 21st March 1905 (retrieved on 5th August 2021.) Retrieved from https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19050321.2.19&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1
  28. Halifax Explosion Book of Remembrance | Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. (Retrieved 2014, June 23) . Retrieved from https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/what-see-do/halifax-explosion/halifax-explosion-book-remembrance

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