Recorded as Newdall, Newdale, Newdal, Nodle, Noddle, Noddles, Notehale, Nuttall and possibly others, this is an English surname of pre 7th century origins. It is almost certainly residential, and is said to originate from either a parish in the county of Nottinghamshire variously recorded in the spellings of Nuthall and Nuttall or from the similar village of Nuttall in Lancashire. The place names and hence the surname, derives from the Olde English words "hnutu", meaning nut and "healh", a secluded place, giving the the meaning of a dweller at the nut grove or similar. It is also possible that the name refers to a rounded shape in the landscape similar to a nut, in which case the name could describe somebody who lived on a round hill. The place name is first recorded at "Nutehale" in the famous Domesday Book of the year 1086, along with similar places such as Nutfield and Nutford. The earliest examples of the surname recording include Stephen de Notehale of London in 1269, John Notehale of Colchester in 1354, and Puter Nutill of Yorkshire, in the year 1375. As to how the spellings developed a double 'dd' as in Noddle or Noddles is unclear, but in early medieval language d's and t's are interchangeable, and this would seem to apply here, an alternative suggestion being from a fusing of de Nuttehal, as in the first spelling. This was Richard de Nuttehal, dated 1202, in the Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire, during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland" 1199 - 1216.

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