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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English (Lancashire) : habitational name from either of two minor places in Lancashire called Orell, from Old English ōra ‘ore’ + hyll ‘hill’, probably denoting a hill with deposits of iron ore. Reaney and Wilson also mention a medieval female personal name, Orella, but there is no evidence of a link with the surname.
  • Swedish : unexplained.

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