Family name origins & meanings
- English (of Norman origin) : nickname for an old man, or for the elder of two bearers of the same personal name, from Anglo-Norman French viel ‘old’ (Old French vieil).
- English (of Norman origin) : metonymic occupational name for a calf-herd or nickname for a docile, calf-like person, from Anglo-Norman French ve(e)l ‘calf’ (Old French veel).