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Recorded in many forms including Machel, Matchell, Matsell, Mitchel, Mitchell, Michell, Mickle, Muckle and others, this is a surname of English and Scottish origins. Introduced into Western Europe by returning knights and pilgrims of the famous Crusades to free the Holy Land, it derives from the medieval Hebrew and Biblical name "Michel", meaning "He who is like the Lord". The name is first recorded in circa 1160, when one Michaelis de Areci appears in the Danelaw Documents of the city of London, and Michel de Whepstede in the Subsidy Tax rolls of Suffolk in 1327. The Royal Registers of England for the year 1219 have the entry of William Michel. He was paid three pence per day, probably now the equivalent of between £25 and £40, for keeping two of the Kings' wolfhounds. Other examples include Richard Mukel in the Hundred Rolls of the landowners of the county of Shropshire, in 1255, Agnes Mitchell who married Richard Freeman on June 24th 1582, at St. Dunstan's in the East, Stepney, city of London, whilst Fanny Matsell married George Phillips, at St Leonards Shoreditch in the city of London, on August 13th 1792. A coat of arms associated with the surname has the blazon of a black shield, charged with an escallop between three gold birds' heads erased. The first recorded spelling of the family name may be that of Gilbert Michel. This was dated 1205, in the Curia Regis Rolls of Northumberland, during the reign of King John of England, 1199 - 1216.

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This most interesting surname, though found chiefly in England, is of Old French origin, deriving from the popular and old established personal name "Piers", a diminutive of the French personal name "Pierre", cognate with "Peter", from the Greek "Petros", rock. This name was given by Jesus to Simon to be symbolic of his steadfastness in faith. St. Peter became the favourite saint of the medieval church and Peter itself became a popular personal name throughout Christendom in the Middle Ages. The version Piers was introduced to England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. The name Pearse while mainly associated with Cornwall, is also found in Ireland as Pierce and Pierse, and is an Anglo-Irish family name found mainly in East Leinster. There are at least sixteen variant spellings of the name in the modern idiom, ranging from Pierce and Piers to Peers, Peres and Perse. The personal name appears as Peris le ceynturer in 1292 in the Subsidy Rolls of London, while Geoffrey Peres was recorded in 1237 in the Records of Hornchurch Priory (Essex). Adam Peris was mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcester in 1275. On January 21st 1593, Ann Pearce married John Baker at St. Dionis Backchurch, London. An interesting namebearer was Padraig Pearse (1879 - 1916), schoolmaster, poet and revolutionary who with his brother was executed for his part in the Easter Rising of 1916 in Dublin, one of the most important events in Irish history. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gilbert Perse, which was dated 1198, in the "Pipe Rolls of London", during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199.

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Recorded in many spellings including Naul, Knells, Naull, Naulls, Noale, Noel, Noell, Nowell, and Nowill, this ancient surname is English but of French origins. It derives from the pre 10th century Old French word "noel" meaning Christmas, and was probably introduced by the Normans after the 1066 Invasion. It is a baptismal name or a medieval nickname for somebody born at the Christmas holiday. Similar surnames include Easter and Midwinter, although Michaelmass which certainly existed in the 15th century seems to have disappeared. Holidays in olden times were both rarer and usually shorter, and were associated with much more festivity than in the 20th century. They usually included fairs and theatres, in which everybody was encouraged to take part. It has been suggested that on occasion the name could have been satirical, in that a Christmas birth presumably prevented members of the family taking part in the festivities. Early examples of the surname recording include William Nowel in the 1248 rolls of the county of Huntingdon, and John Nowell in the register of Oxford University, in 1578. Other recordings of the variant forms include Thomas Knells of London, on May 11th 1574, Edward Naull, at St Botolphs church, Bishopgate, London, on May 1st 1700, and Elizabeth Noale, at St Botolphs without Aldgate, also London, on November 1st 1822.

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This interesting and unusual name with variant spellings Doddemeede and Dodamead, is of English locational origin from one of the estimated seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets that have now disappeared from maps in Britain. The prime cause of these "disappearances" was the enforced "clearing" and dispersal of the former inhabitants to make way for sheep pastures at the height of the wooltrade in the 14th Century. Natural causes such as the Black Death of 1348, also contributed to the lost village phenomenon. The placename, believed to be located in either Wiltshire or Somerset is composed of the Medieval personal name "Dodde", "Dudde", from the Old English "Dodda", "Dudda", frequent in England up to 14th Century, (which may come from a Germanic root meaning "rotund") and the second element "mead", an archaic and poetic word for meadow. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Agnes Dodemeede, which was dated January 29th 1559, married Willem Stevens at Trowbridge, Wiltshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1.

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This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from the ancient city of Worcester, in Worcestershire. The placename is recorded in the Saxon Chronicles as "Uueogorna ceastre" (889) and as "Wigraceaster" (904), and appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Wirecestre". The city is named from the addition of the Olde English pre 7th Century "ceaster", Roman fort, from the Latin "castra", legionary camp, to an ancient British (pre Roman) tribal name of uncertain origin, "Wigoran" or "Weogoran". The tribal name is thought to be derived from a river name identical with the Wyre in Lancashire, which means "winding river". Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 12th Century and can also be found as Worcester, Worster and Wostear. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph de Wircestr, which was dated 1180, in the "Pipe Rolls of Cambridgeshire", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189.

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This long-established and distinguished surname may be either of Anglo-Saxon or Old French origin, and is an occupational name for a player on the harp. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th Century "hearp", Middle English "harp", with the addition of the agent suffix "-er". In its original sense "a man who has to do with", the "-er" designates persons according to their profession or occupation. Some early forms of the name, for example, Harpour and Harpur, have their origins in the Anglo-French harpour", Old French "harpeor", a harper. In medieval times, the harper was one of the most important figures at baronial halls, festivals and fairs, and the Brehon laws of Scotland and Ireland ranked the playing of the harp as "the one art of music which deserves nobility". Sometimes these names represent an official position, that of an hereditary official in the households of great lords. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert le Harpur, which was dated 1186, in the "Pipe Rolls of Hampshire", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189.

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This ancient surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from the many places called Stoke, for example in Somerset, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, and Derbyshire. In many instances the old forms of the placename appear in their plural form such as "Stoches" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Stokes" in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1206. The name is derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "stocc", stock, trunk of a tree, Middle English "stoke", thus, "the place of the stump-clearings". The surname dates back to the late 11th Century (see below). Early recordings include Cnut de Stock (1166) in the Pipe Rolls of Derbyshire, and Ailwin de Stokes (1195) in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire. London Church Records include the christening of Benjamin Stokes on the 18th June 1570 at St. Peter's, Cornhill, and the marriage of Anna Stokes to Lott Arnold on the 18th January 1579 at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ricerus de Stochas, which was dated 1086, in the "Geld Roll in the Domesday Book", during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087.

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