Maxwell surname meaning

Maxwell is a Scottish habitational surname from Maxwell in Dumfriesshire. The place-name is traditionally interpreted as Maccus’s well or spring, combining a personal name with a word for a water source. A person who moved from that locality could be identified as de Maxwell, and the place-name later became hereditary. Maxwel, Maxwall, and other spellings appear in historical records. The surname’s geographic origin does not mean all Maxwells descend from one medieval household, since place-based surnames can spread through several branches. Place is the high-confidence catalog type.