The early female personal name 'Hannah' later shortened in many instance to 'Ann' is one of the origins of this name. In effect the name is a matronymic, 'son of Ann' with 'ell' being a form of diminutive. It is however possible that some name holders may derived from a shortened form of the early Norse - Viking 'Ankettle', a compound personal name of the pre 8th Century which translates as 'Eagle - Cauldron'. There are a number of alternative spellings which include Annell, Anell, Anniel, Aynell, etc.. The 'modern' name development has included the following examples Henry Annell christened at St. Botolphs without Aldgate, city of London, on October 2nd 1653, Lucy Ainall, London, and Thomas Annal who married Emeline Mills at Clerkenwell on February 15th 1869. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of James Aniell, which was dated July 27th 1567, christened at St. Martins in the Field, Westminster, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, 'Good Queen Bess', 1558 - 1603. 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.