The surname Cresswell is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is found chiefly in northern England and Scotland. Cresswell is an habitational name from any of the various places named Cresswell, from Old English cærse meaning “watercress” and  well meaning “spring, or stream,” as for example in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Staffordshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas de Cressewell which was dated 1272, in the "Pipe Rolls of Staffordshire.In Scotland the name is first recorded in the 13th Century at Carswell in the parish of Neilston Renfewshire.  The first reference to the name Cresswell in the United States is in 1872.