Wells.
An English topographic surname from Middle English for someone living near a well or a spring.
Meaning & usage
An English topographic surname from Middle English for someone living near a well or a spring.
A male given name transferred from the surname.
A small cathedral city and civil parish with a city council in Somerset, England, previously in Mendip district (OS grid ref ST5445).
A small town in Norfolk, England; in full, Wells-next-the-Sea.
A town in the Cariboo Regional District, British Columbia, Canada.
A locale in the United States: An unincorporated community in Pipe Creek Township, Miami County, Indiana; named for founder James Oscar Wells.
A locale in the United States: A census-designated place in Ottawa County, Kansas.
A locale in the United States: A town in York County, Maine; named for the city in England.
A locale in the United States: A city in Faribault County, Minnesota; named for J. W. Wells, father-in-law of Canadian-American Minnesota politician Clark W. Thompson.
A locale in the United States: An unincorporated community in Lowndes County, Mississippi.
A locale in the United States: A city in Elko County, Nevada.
A locale in the United States: A town and census-designated place therein, in Hamilton County, New York; named for land agent Joshua Wells.
A locale in the United States: A town in Cherokee County, Texas; named for railroad engineer Maj. E. H. Wells.
A locale in the United States: A town and census-designated place therein, in Rutland County, Vermont.
A locale in the United States: An unincorporated community in Marshall County, West Virginia.
A locale in the United States: An unincorporated community in Rockland, Manitowoc County and Rantoul, Calumet County, Wisconsin.
A locale in the United States: A town in Monroe County, Wisconsin; named for early settler James Wells.
A locale in the United States: A number of townships, including in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania, listed under Wells Township.
Where this word comes from
From Old English wella, genitive plural of well (“spring”), in reference to a residence near a group of springs. The original use of the genitive case here would've indicated origin. The -s ending of the modern form would be added later on upon reanalysis after the breakdown of the case system (outside of pronouns) that occurred in the development of English.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.