Youle Family History

From the early Middle English personal name Yol Yhol Yool (Old Scandinavian Iól Ióli Old Danish Iuli Old Swedish Iule), a short form of names in Iól- Iúl-, which is thought to derive from Old Scandinavian *ighul ‘sea urchin’. The name was identical in pronunciation and spelling with (and therefore probably confused with) the Middle English name for Christmas.

Both names underwent the phonetic change of Middle English /o:/ to early Modern English and Older Scots /u:/, whence the common modern spellings Youle and Yule. In Scotland, most of the earliest bearers of the surname are those of burgesses, whose families may have originated in North England, perhaps from Middle English Yol(e) Yhol Youle Ȝoul(e) northern Middle English Yoil Yiol Older Scots Y(h)ule Ȝuil(l) Ȝoul(e) Y(h)ole Yeul(e) ‘Yule Christmas’ (Old English Geōl(a) Iōl Iūl(a) Old Scandinavian Iól).

Whether the surname was ever derived from the word for the festive season is not certain. There is a semantic parallel in Christmas, so this possibility cannot be ruled out, but the early geographical concentration of the surname in parts of England heavily settled by Vikings (Yorks and Lincs) suggests that the most likely derivation is from the Scandinavian personal name.