Show ContentsIthell History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The old, proud Ithell name comes from the Welsh personal name Ithel, which was originally derived from the Middle Welsh forename Ithael.

Early Origins of the Ithell family

The surname Ithell was first found in Denbighshire (Welsh: Sir Ddinbych), a historic county in Northeast Wales created by the Laws in Wales Act 1536, where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Ithell family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ithell research. Another 62 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Ithell History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ithell Spelling Variations

The Welsh have an extremely large amount of spelling variations of their native surnames to their credit. It was up to the priest or the scribe taking the official records to determine how the spoken name was to be made literal. As time progressed, the old Brythonic names of Wales were recorded in English, which was especially problematic since the English language had extreme difficulty recording the highly inflected sounds of Cymraeg. Spelling variations were, however, also carried out according to an individual's design: a branch loyalty within the family, a religious adherence, or even patriotic affiliations could be indicated by spelling variations of one's name. The spelling variations of the name Ithell have included Ithel, Ithell, Ithil, Ithill and others.

Early Notables of the Ithell family

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


United States Ithell migration to the United States +

North America in the 1800s and 1900s saw the arrival of many Welsh people hoping to share in the wealth of land, work, and freedom that they felt North America held. Those who made the journey often attained those expectations, but only through an enormous amount of hard work, perseverance, and often a bout of good luck. These immigrants helped contribute to the growth of industry, commerce, and culture of both Canada and the United States. Discovered in the immigration and passenger lists were a number of people bearing the name Ithell:

Ithell Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • William Ithell, who settled in Virginia in 1663
  • Ann Ithell, who landed in Maryland in 1676 1
Ithell Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • William Ithell, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1881

Contemporary Notables of the name Ithell (post 1700) +

  • Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988), British Surrealist painter and author


  1. 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)


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