Bendel

There are two possible sources of this interesting name, the first being that it is a diminutive or patronymic form of a Germanic personal name, which derives from the Latin 'bene', meaning well or good, with the intrusive 'del' denoting the 'son of' or 'little'. The name is well recorded in Germany, the earliest being the marriage of one Paulus Bendel and Barbara Strickerin, on September 29th 1524 at Bayern, and in Belgium in the late 19th Century, with the christening of Joannes Alphonsius Bendel, on April 24th 1874 at Zelgate, Oose, Vlaanderen. However, it may also be that Bendel is one of the variant spellings of Benthall, a locational name originating in a place so called in Shropshire, which derives from the Old English pre 7th Century 'beonet', bentgrass and 'halh' a nook or hidden place. The earliest recording of this name (see below) is of an original member of the notable family who still live on the ancestral estate to this day. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Anfrid de Benthall, which was dated 1120, Shropshire Charters, during the reign of King Henry 1, 'The Lion of Justice', 1100-1135. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.