Moule Family History

English:: variant of Moll. nickname from Middle English mule moul ‘mule’ (Old English mūl) perhaps for someone who was stupid or stubborn or for someone who worked with mules. In the post-medieval period the surname will have been pronounced to rhyme with fowl and been spelled Mowl(e) but it was probably interchangeable with the synonymous Mule and Moyle which are derived from Old French mule.

Occasionally perhaps from a rare Middle English personal name Mule, spelled Mole in accordance with Norman spelling conventions. It represents either Old English Mūl(a) or Old Norse Múli, both probably derivatives of a ‘mule’ word as in 2 above or from Old Norse múli ‘snout’.

If it survived as a surname it will have been spelled Mowl(e) in the post-medieval period and pronounced to rhyme with the word owl.