Hatherall Family History

From the Middle English personal name Athelwald Athelwold with prosthetic H- probably representing Old English Æþelweald from æþel ‘noble’ + weald ‘rule(r)’ or possibly Norman use of the cognate Continental Germanic Adalwald. Place-Names of Sussex p. 345 notes that the surname Atherwold (1327) appears as Atholwold in 1340, Adderwolde in 1546, and Adderall in 1618, and that it is commemorated in Atherall's Farm in Fletching.

In other counties, the surname could have the same origin, but absence of medieval evidence for the name there makes it hard to assess how probable this is. The development of Hat(he)rell to Hawt(h)rell there is also difficult to explain unless it is by reverse analogy with words and names in which late Middle English /au/ sometimes became /a:/ and then /ɛɪ/ as shown in spellings like Haytrell and Haterel.

In Herts, the name may have been confused with Hawtrey. Alternatively, perhaps it is a variant of Attrill (1) or (2) with prosthetic H-.