Fretwell Family History

English (of Norman origin): variant of the Norman surname de Frescheville from an unidentified place in France named Frècheville. The English surname Freshfield is also derived from this placename. The surname Fretwell is attested in Derbyshire from the 13th century.

Alternative possibilities include minor placenames in the Midlands or north of England such as Fretwell Close in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, or the lost Frethewell in Morton, Nottinghamshire, but there is currently no evidence to support these origins.

English: habitational name from Fritwell, Oxfordshire which is possibly derived from Old English freht, fyrht, firht ‘augury’ and w(i)elle ‘well’, meaning ‘wishing well’.

This name is recorded as Fretewell in 1203 and Fritewell in 1236.