Meaning of Last Name

Powell is a traditional Welsh surname. It is sometimes said to mean "Son of the Servant of St. Paul", but is more likely to be a patronymic from the Welsh first name Hywel. The Welsh term "ap" means "son of", hence Ap Hywel was eventually spelled as Powell. At the time of the British Census of 1881 [http://www.britishsurnames.co.uk/surnames/POWELL/1881census], the frequency of the surname Powell was highest in Brecknockshire (21.9 times the British average), followed by Radnorshire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Shropshire, Glamorgan, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.