This unusual name is of Swiss origin, and is a locational surname from a place called 'Mieville' in the French speaking canton of Vaud, Switzerland, near Lausanne. The name is thought to mean 'the place (town) of honey', i.e., where honey was found, derived from the French 'miel', honey, and 'ville', settlement, town. The surname does not appear in Britain until the early 19th Century, in London, where the christening of Mary Ann Mieville, daughter of Andrew Amadee and Mary Ann, was recorded on April 4th 1811 at St. Pancras, Old Church. Mary Ann Mievilles marriage to Augustus Sillem is recorded at St. James's, Paddington, on June 28th 1854. The arms recorded in Rietstap's Armorial General for the Mievilles of Neuchatel consist of a field or (gold), with pile azure, a gold fleur-de-lis in chief and a red cinquefoil to each side of the pile. The marriage of Anne Mieville to Abraham Olivier Valoton was recorded at Agiez, Vaud, Switzerland, on April 10th 1734. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johannes de Mieville, which was dated 1680, Pays de Vaud, Switzerland, Rietstap's Armorial General, during the reign of Council of the Canton of Vaud. 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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