surnames.ie

Irish surname · 93rd most common in 1911

Bell

Bell is a Scottish and English surname, most often from a bell-ringer or bell-maker, someone living at the sign of the Bell, or the medieval name Bel, 'handsome'. In Ireland it is associated above all with Ulster, where Scottish Border families settled during the Plantation; a Norman de Bel family came earlier.

Irish Mac Giolla an ChloigIrish de Beil
1901 census
7,229
#97 · 16 per 10,000
1911 census
7,369
#93 · 17 per 10,000
1926 census
1,370
#384 · 5 per 10,000
Most numerous
Antrim
Highest share: Down

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Scottish & English A Scottish and northern English surname of several origins, brought to Ulster mainly by Scottish settlers, with a smaller Norman strand dating from the invasion.[1][2][3][4]

Mac Giolla an Chloig
“an Irish rendering of Bell”[5]
Woulfe thought this was most probably a 'translation' of the English surname Bell into Irish, rather than an older Gaelic name behind it.
de Beil
“Norman le bel, 'the beautiful'”[4]
Woulfe's Irish form for a Norman family called de Bel who came to Ireland around the time of the invasion.

The name is built on the personal name Bel, usually explained as “handsome, fair (from Old French bel)”. Only one of several origins. Wikipedia also derives Bell from the Middle English word bell, for a bell-ringer, a bell-maker or a house or inn sign, and in women's names from a short form of Isobel.[1][4]

Pronunciation

Bell: BEL

Place

Where the Bells lived

How common the name was in each county, as a share of the population, in the three surviving full censuses of Ireland. Use the buttons to compare years.

Donegal: 9.6 per 10,000 (162 people) Waterford: 4.7 per 10,000 (39 people) Dublin: 11.2 per 10,000 (540 people) Kilkenny: 1.1 per 10,000 (8 people) Carlow: 3.9 per 10,000 (14 people) Limerick: 1.2 per 10,000 (17 people) Louth: 12.9 per 10,000 (81 people) Tipperary: 1.2 per 10,000 (19 people) Roscommon: 0.2 per 10,000 (2 people) Meath: 13.3 per 10,000 (87 people) Wicklow: 6.4 per 10,000 (39 people) Cavan: 16.8 per 10,000 (153 people) Cork: 1.4 per 10,000 (57 people) Clare: 0.8 per 10,000 (8 people) Galway: 1.6 per 10,000 (29 people) Mayo: 2.4 per 10,000 (47 people) Sligo: 4.5 per 10,000 (36 people) Leitrim: 1.7 per 10,000 (11 people) Offaly: 4 per 10,000 (23 people) Laois: 3.5 per 10,000 (19 people) Kildare: 9.9 per 10,000 (66 people) Kerry: 0.9 per 10,000 (14 people) Monaghan: 9.1 per 10,000 (65 people) Wexford: 1.9 per 10,000 (19 people) Longford: 0.2 per 10,000 (1 people) Westmeath: 6.3 per 10,000 (38 people) Tyrone: 34.2 per 10,000 (488 people) Antrim: 57.3 per 10,000 (2,738 people) Armagh: 28.3 per 10,000 (339 people) Fermanagh: 7.9 per 10,000 (48 people) Londonderry: 24.4 per 10,000 (341 people) Down: 59.5 per 10,000 (1,821 people)
fewerup to 62 per 10,000

Share of each county's census population. 1926 covers the 26 counties of the Irish Free State only.

Highest concentration · 1911

Down

60 per 10,000

1,821 Bells · 3.55× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Down 60
  2. Antrim 57
  3. Tyrone 34
  4. Armagh 28
  5. Londonderry 24
  6. Cavan 17
  7. Meath 13
  8. Louth 13

Per 10,000 residents. A concentration index above 1 means the name was commoner there than nationally.

County figures as a table
County190119111926Per 10k 1901Per 10k 1911Per 10k 1926
Antrim2,6532,738—5857—
Armagh339339—2728—
Carlow11147342
Cavan165153138171717
Clare682110
Cork705729211
Donegal16916213310109
Down1,7821,821—6260—
Dublin448540497101110
Fermanagh8348—138—
Galway412918221
Kerry111425112
Kildare596677101013
Kilkenny684111
Laois20195441
Leitrim181116323
Limerick151716111
Londonderry356341—2524—
Longford111000
Louth40816761311
Mayo294739222
Meath748770111311
Monaghan7965481197
Offaly252326445
Roscommon121000
Sligo333623453
Tipperary361912211
Tyrone547488—3634—
Waterford303942355
Westmeath363830665
Wexford301919322
Wicklow163925364

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where Bells made up the largest share of the population. In Lissan, Co. Tyrone, about one resident in 11 was a Bell.

DEDCountyBellsShare
LissanTyrone73 9.5%
Connor.Antrim66 5.0%
PollardstownKildare16 4.6%
MoneyhawLondonderry41 4.3%
DundesertAntrim34 4.0%
CoaghTyrone52 3.9%
DrummullyMonaghan15 3.3%
BallynadrentaghAntrim24 3.1%

Origins

Septs & territories

Many Irish surnames were adopted independently by unrelated families. These are the distinct Bell lineages described in the sources.

A surname can point you towards a place. On its own, it cannot establish a pedigree.

Bells of the Scottish West March

Scottish West March; seat at Middlebie, Dumfriesshire

A Border surname, or 'grayne', named on the Scottish Parliament's roll of 1587 among the families of the West March. Wikipedia lists Bell as an armigerous clan, one that once had a chief recognised by the Lord Lyon but has none now, with its seat at Middlebie in Dumfriesshire.[3][6][7][8]

Bell of Belview and Gortadrate

Belview and Gortadrate · Fermanagh

An Ulster family recorded by Burke. Arms were granted in 1819 to Henry Nugent Bell of Belview, Co. Fermanagh, and to the descendants of his grandfather, Walter Bell of Gortadrate in the same county.[9]

de Bel (Norman)

Anglo-Norman Ireland

Woulfe records a family of Norman origin, named from le bel, 'the beautiful', that first came to Ireland around the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion. He gives no particular district for them.[4]

The name over time

History

Several English origins

Bell has more than one source. Wikipedia explains that it often began as a name for a bell-ringer or bell-maker, or for someone living by a bell or under the sign of the Bell at a house or inn. Other Bells take their name from the medieval personal name Bel, from Old French bel, 'handsome', or from a nickname meaning fair or beautiful. Early records include John atte Belle in 1332 and Robert le bel in the late 12th century. Wiktionary describes the surname as of Scottish and northern English origin.[1][2]

A Border surname

In Scotland the Bells were one of the riding families of the Anglo-Scottish Border. A statute passed by the Scottish Parliament in 1587 attached a roll of Border surnames, and Bell appears among those of the West March alongside Irving, Carruthers, Graham, Johnstone, Jardine and Moffat. George MacDonald Fraser's account of the reiving families also lists Bell on the Scottish side of the West March. Wikipedia adds that Bell, like Armstrong and Graham, had branches on both sides of the border.[3]

Clan Bell

The Bells are treated today as an armigerous clan: a Scottish family that once had a chief recognised by the Court of the Lord Lyon but no longer has one. Wikipedia's list of Scottish clans gives Middlebie in Dumfriesshire as the family seat. The same list gives the motto 'I beir the bel', with arms of three bells on blue and a crest of a hand holding a dagger, but its only source is a clan society website. Wikipedia also notes that the Lord Lyon has questioned the term 'armigerous clan' itself.[6][7][8]

From the Borders to Ulster

In Ireland the name is linked above all with Ulster. Wikipedia notes that Border families, especially those banished by James VI, took part in the Plantation of Ulster and became part of the Ulster-Scots population, and that descendants of the reiving families are found across the province. Its source is a 1994 History Ireland article by Robert Bell on the riding clans in Ulster. Burke records one settled Ulster family in detail: the Bells of Gortadrate and Belview in Co. Fermanagh, who received a grant of arms in 1819.[3][9]

Norman Bells and an Irish form

Not every Irish Bell came with the Plantation. Woulfe records a Norman family called de Bel, from le bel, 'the beautiful', who reached Ireland around the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion; he gives its Irish form as de Beil. He also lists Mac Giolla an Chloig as an Irish surname written Bell, but thought it was most likely an Irish rendering of the English name rather than an independent Gaelic one. Woulfe does not connect Bell with any other Gaelic surname.[4][5]

Places linked to the name

  • Middlebie, Co. Dumfriesshire, Scotland — Given by Wikipedia as the seat of Clan Bell, in the old Scottish West March.[6][8]
  • Belview and Gortadrate, Co. Fermanagh — Homes of the Fermanagh Bell family granted arms in 1819.[9]

Everyday lives

The Bells in the census

Who the Bells were in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (and 1926 where recorded), set against everyone in Ireland in the same census.

Bells All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the Bell bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic −59.9 points vs Ireland
Bells 13.7%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland +21.2 points vs Ireland
Bells 34.4%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian +31.1 points vs Ireland
Bells 41.2%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other +7.7 points vs Ireland
Bells 10.8%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 −12.7 points vs Ireland
Bells 2.6%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 −10.9 points vs Ireland
Bells 2.6%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties −8.5 points vs Ireland
Bells 5.0%
All of Ireland 13.5%

106 Bells spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ +7.4 points vs Ireland
Bells 87.8%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ +5.2 points vs Ireland
Bells 91.0%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 1,593 households lower than Ireland
Bells 4.67
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 lower than Ireland
Bells 6.11
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living −2.7 points vs Ireland
Bells 77.1%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer870
Farmer's son354
General labourer237
Farmer's daughter211
House keeper163
Seamstress151
Agricultural labourer143
Farm servant143
Labourer133
Linen weaver121

Born outside Ireland

5.0% of Bells in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England215
Scotland119
United States13
Canada5
India4
Wales4

Median age: 24 in 1901, 25 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the Bells

Men and boys

  1. John867
  2. William676
  3. James631
  4. Robert501
  5. Thomas442
  6. Samuel261
  7. Joseph228
  8. George214
  9. David211
  10. Alexander141

Women and girls

  1. Mary631
  2. Sarah402
  3. Annie358
  4. Elizabeth339
  5. Margaret319
  6. Jane316
  7. Maggie230
  8. Agnes212
  9. Ellen200
  10. Lizzie195

All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: John, William, James, Thomas, Patrick; Mary, Elizabeth, Annie, Margaret, Jane.

Spellings

Spellings

This page combines the spellings below, which census enumerators and families used for the same name.

Spelling190119111926Records
Bell7,2297,3691,370Search

Related forms

  • de Bel — The Norman form recorded by Woulfe.[4]
  • Mac Giolla an Chloig — An Irish-language form of Bell, probably translated from the English name.[5]
  • Böhl, Böll — German surnames sometimes anglicised as Bell.[1]

Diaspora

The Bells abroad

Emigration carried the name worldwide. In the 2010 United States census:

SpellingPeopleUS rank
Bell220,599106th

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 surname file (public domain).

Heraldry

Is there a Bell coat of arms?

Arms belong to particular families, not to everyone named Bell. Burke's General Armory records many Bell arms, often featuring bells. For the Fermanagh family granted arms in 1819 he gives a blue shield with an ermine band between three gold bells, and a crest of a falcon rising from a ducal coronet. For Bell of Kirkconnel in Dumfriesshire he gives three gold bells on blue. The motto 'I beir the bel' is reported for Clan Bell only from a clan society website.[9][6]

Websites selling a single “Bell family crest” are selling a design, not an inheritance. Arms in Ireland belonged to individuals and their heirs, and the Chief Herald of Ireland still grants arms that way today.

People

Notable people named Bell

  • Sir Charles Bell (1774–1842)
    Scottish surgeon and anatomist who distinguished sensory from motor nerves and described Bell's palsy.
  • Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922)
    Scottish-born inventor credited with patenting the first practical telephone; co-founder of AT&T.
  • Gertrude Bell (1868–1926)
    English writer, traveller, archaeologist and Arabist influential in British Middle East policy.
  • Sam Hanna Bell (1909–1990)
    Scottish-born Northern Irish novelist, playwright and broadcaster.
  • John Stewart Bell (1928–1990)
    Belfast physicist who devised Bell's theorem, a landmark result in quantum physics.
  • Derek Bell (1935–2002)
    Northern Irish harpist, oboist and composer, best known for his work with the Chieftains.
  • Martin Bell (born 1938)
    BBC war reporter, later independent MP for Tatton, known as 'the man in the white suit'.
  • Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 1943)
    Northern Irish astrophysicist who discovered the first pulsar in 1967 as a doctoral student.
  • Eileen Bell (born 1943)
    Alliance Party politician from Dromara and North Down MLA from 1998 to 2007.
  • Joshua Bell (born 1967)
    American violinist and conductor, music director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

Questions

Questions about the Bell name

Is Bell an Irish surname?

Bell is mainly a Scottish and northern English surname, but it has been in Ireland for centuries, especially in Ulster. Most Irish Bells descend from Scottish families, many from the Border country, who settled during and after the Plantation of Ulster. Woulfe also records a Norman de Bel family who arrived around the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion.[2][3][4]

Is Bell Scottish or English?

Both. The name arose independently in different places, from a bell-ringer or bell-maker, a sign of the Bell, or the personal name Bel. In Scotland the Bells were a notable Border family of the West March, named on the Scottish Parliament's roll of Border surnames in 1587, and that Scottish line is the main source of Bells in Ulster.[1][2][3]

What is Bell in Irish?

Woulfe gives two Irish forms. De Beil represents the Norman de Bel family. Mac Giolla an Chloig is also written Bell in English, but Woulfe thought it was most probably a translation of the English surname into Irish. Woulfe connects Bell with no other Gaelic surname.[4][5]

Why is Bell common in Ulster?

Because so many Scottish families settled there. Wikipedia notes that Border families, including those banished by James VI, joined the Plantation of Ulster and became part of the Ulster-Scots community, and the Bells were one of the Border surnames of the West March. Burke records a Fermanagh Bell family, of Gortadrate and Belview, granted arms in 1819.[3][9]

Is there a Bell family crest or clan motto?

Arms belonged to particular families, so there is no single Bell crest. Burke records many different Bell arms, among them those granted in 1819 to the Bells of Belview, Co. Fermanagh. Clan Bell has no recognised chief, and the motto often quoted for it, 'I beir the bel', is sourced only to a clan society website, so treat it with caution.[9][6][7]

Where in Ireland is the Bell surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of Bells lived in Antrim (2,738), Down (1,821), Dublin (540). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Down (60 per 10,000), Antrim (57 per 10,000), Tyrone (34 per 10,000).

How common was the Bell surname in Ireland?

7,369 people were recorded as Bell in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 93rd most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 595.

Looking for a Bell ancestor?

Search every Bell household in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses, with free images of the original forms.

Search records on irishcensus.com

Evidence

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Bell (surname) (2026)
  2. Wiktionary, Bell (2026)
  3. Wikipedia, Border reivers (2026)
  4. Patrick Woulfe, De Beil, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  5. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Giolla an Chloig, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  6. Wikipedia, List of Scottish clans (2026)
  7. Wikipedia, Armigerous clan (2026)
  8. Wikipedia, Middlebie (2026)
  9. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries under 'Bell', including Bell of Belview, co. Fermanagh (granted 1819) and Bell of Kirkconnel, co. Dumfries.
  10. Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911, and Census of Population 1926, National Archives of Ireland. Counts compiled by surnames.ie from the irishcensus.com transcription (dataset 20260831130351). 1926 data © National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.

How we compile these figures: methodology.