This name is usually an alternative spelling of the Old Cheshire name Hassall or Hasell, which derives from the pre 10th Century "hoetse-halh". The name translates as "the dweller at the witches or elf's hollow", which seems an unusual explanation given the medieval fear of the supernatural. However, it is also possible that the meaning could be "the dweller by the Hazell trees" or even a nickname from "Huss" meaning "a goose" - given to a watch manor guard. The earliest recording as Hussell appears to be Robert, who was baptised at St. Mary Whitechapel in 1615 (London). One Ann Hussell married James Palmer at St. Marylebone, Saint Mary Street, Marylebone Road, London on May 11th 1763, while Catherine Hussell married James Young on January 2nd, 1783 in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Persona de Hassell, which was dated 1273, in the Pipe Rolls of Oxfordshire, during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as "the Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.

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