Bell (surname) of "Isobel". In some cases, the surname originates from a nickname, or descriptive name, derived from the Old French "bel" ("beautiful", "fair"). In other cases, the surname "Bell" represents an English form of the Gaelic surname "Mac Giolla Mhaoil" ("son of the servant of the devotee"). In some cases, the surname is derived from placenames in Norway (Bell) and Germany (Bell in Rhineland; and possibly Belle, in Westphalia). The surname Bell is also sometimes an Anglicized form of the German "Böhl" or "Böll". Early attested forms of the surname when of a patronymic origin include: Ailuuardus ""filius Belli"", in 1086;
Irish people used. While both "Mac" and "Ó'" prefixes are Gaelic in origin, "Mac" is more common in Scotland and in Ulster than in the rest of Ireland; furthermore, "Ó" is far less common in Scotland than it is in Ireland. The proper surname for a woman in Irish uses the feminine prefix nic (meaning daughter) in place of mac. Thus a boy may be called Mac Domhnaill whereas his sister would be called Nic Dhomhnaill or Ní Dhomhnaill – the insertion of 'h' follows the female prefix in the case of most consonants (bar H, L, N, R, & T). A