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Meaning & History
Reduced form of Irish Gaelic Ó Néill or Scottish Gaelic Mac Néill ‘descendant (or son) of Niall’, a personal name of Irish origin, thought to mean ‘champion’. The personal name was adopted by Norsemen in the form Njáll and was brought to England both directly from Ireland by Scandinavian settlers and indirectly (via France) by the Normans. Among the latter it had taken the form Ni(h)el, which was altered by folk etymology to the Latin name Nigellus.