Surname Variations

Today the most common spelling of the surname is Sambell, Sambells, Samble, Sambles and Semple. These variations presented a quandary for assigning a title to the name of this website. Since the spelling of my own surname “Sambells” implies “the son of” as in Sambleson , and orally implies the plural form, I decided to use the spelling of my own version of the surname in the title of this website. Nevertheless, most of the recent contacts which I have made with international branches of the family show that the most prevalent spelling is “Sambell”. However, my own research reveals that the most common medieval spelling of the name was actually “Samble or Sambles”. A wide variety of spelling variations in the last 500 years also includes Sambels, Samwells, some Samuels, Scamell, Sombol, Senple, Senpol, Cemball to name a few. Medieval spelling variations are understood only in the context of the origins of the surname from the Latin “de Sancto Paulo.”
For further explanation see “Surname Origins” under the Cultural Heritage pages.