The name group ODELL includes many similar sounding names, including:

• Odell
• O'Dell
• W)odle
• Wo(o)d(d)ell
• Wood(h)all
• (Wo)od(h)ill
• Waddle
• Waddell
• Hoddle
• Ódæll

According to different experts, these derive from one or more of the following:

1. The Old English words for "woad" (wad) and "hill" (hul);
2. A shortened form of the phrase "Of the dell" (Old English word = doel, Old Norse = dalr)
3. The Old English words for "wood" and "hill";
4. The Old Scandinavian word odal/odel/wodal/uodil/edhel, meaning land held in absolute ownership;
5. The Old Norse word Ódæll meaning overbearing;
6. Odo, King William the Conqueror's half brother; and
7. The Irish name "O'Donnel"

Most people (including the ODELL International Registry) favour the first option.  They link the name to the 11th C. place called Odell in the north of the county of Bedfordshire in England.

Certainly since the 16th C. there has been a very high density of ODELLs in Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, e.g. around Cranfield.   However it is not safe to assume that all ODELLs link to this village.

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