The surname Bell is of nickname origin, deriving from the French term "belle" meaning handsome or beautiful. The name Bell is first found in Dumfriesshire in Scotland where the family held an ancestral seat from ancient times. Today the name is found in the borderlands of England and Scotland and Scottish settlers brought the name to Ireland in the 17th Century. The surname Bell is the 66th most common name in the United States with 200,000 bearers of the name there. A noteable bearer of the name was Alexander Graham Bell the Scientist and inventor who was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1847. He is most remembered as the inventor of the Telephone but was also notable for his contributions to the fields of optical communications, hydrofoils and aeronautics. He died in Nova Scotia Canada at the age of 75 in 1922. 

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