Commonly confused with "Caldwell" or "Chadwick." and is even underlined as incorrectly spelt when in writing. The last
name Chadwell was originally derived from a family having lived in one of the various places called Chadwell in the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, and Wiltshire. The surname Chadwell is derived from the names of these settlements, which are ultimately derived from the Old
English words ceald, which means
cold, and wielle, which means spring or stream. The surname Chadwell was first found in Essex at Chadwell, a parish, in the union of Orsett, hundred of Barstable. "At the time of the Norman survey, the parish belonged principally to the
Bishop of London, and some portions to Odo,
Bishop of Bayeux, and others.