Powell is a traditional Welsh surname. It is sometimes said to mean "Son of the Servant of St. Paul", but is more likely to be a patronymic from the Welsh first name Hywel. The Welsh term "ap" means "son of", hence Ap Hywel was eventually spelled as Powell. At the time of the British Census of 1881 [1], the frequency of the surname Powell was highest in Brecknockshire (21.9 times the British average), followed by Radnorshire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Shropshire, Glamorgan, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.
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Nineteenth century persons
- Baden Powell (mathematician) (1796 – 1860), English mathematician; father of Robert Baden-Powell; long-time Chair of Geometry at University of Oxford
- John Wesley Powell (1834 – 1902), American soldier, geologist, and explorer of the American West
Twentieth century persons (deceased)
- Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. (1865 – 1953), prominent minister
- Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (1908 – 1972), first African American to become a powerful figure in the United States Congress
- Anthony Powell (1905 – 2000), English novelist
- Arthur William Baden Powell (1901 – 1987), New Zealand malacologist and paleontologist
- Billy Powell (1952 – 2009), keyboardist of the American band Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Brian Powell (1973 – 2009), American baseball player
- Bud Powell (1924 – 1966), jazz pianist and composer
- Cecil Frank Powell (1903 – 1969), British physicist and Nobel laureate in physics
- Cozy Powell (1947 – 1998), English drummer for bands such as Black Sabbath, Rainbow, and Whitesnake
- Dick Powell (1904 – 1963), American singer, actor, producer, and director
- Dilys Powell (1901 – 1995), British journalist, author, and film critic
- Eleanor Powell (1912 – 1982), American actress and dancer
- Enoch Powell (1912 – 1998), British politician
- Frank Powell, stage and silent film actor, screenwriter, and director
- Henry "Tank" Powell (born 1945), Louisiana politician
- Jody Powell (1943 – 2009), White House Press Secretary for Jimmy Carter
- Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. (1907 – 1998), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
- Mel Powell (1923 – 1998), American jazz pianist and composer
- Michael Powell (director) (1905 – 1990), British film director
- Philip Powell (architect) (1921 – 2003), British architect
- Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (1857 – 1941), British Army lieutenant-general; founder of the world Scouting Movement
- Vince Powell (1928-2009), British sitcom writer
- Wick Powell (1905 – 1973), Wales international rugby union player
- William Powell (1892 – 1984), American actor
- William G. Powell, Marine Corps Brevet Medal recipient
Living people
- Adam Clayton Powell III (born 1946), American university professor (University of Southern California)
- Adam Clayton Powell IV (politician) (born 1962), American politician
- Adam Clayton Powell IV (engineer) (born 1970), American university professor (MIT)
- Asafa Powell (born 1982), Jamaican athlete
- Boog Powell (born 1941), popular nickname of John Wesley Powell, American major league baseball player (1961-77)
- Charles Powell (born 1941), Advisor to Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major
- Colin Powell (born 1937), former United States Secretary of State and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Cynthia Lennon née Powell, first wife of John Lennon
- Daren Powell (born 1978), West Indian cricketer
- Dina Powell (born 1974), Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs in the United States
- Don Powell, drummer for English rock band Slade
- Eric Powell, American comic book artist and writer
- Felix Powell, British song writer, best known for "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile"
- Gary Powell, American–British musician, previously drummer in The Libertines, now drummer in Dirty Pretty Things
- Ivor Powell (born 1916), Welsh footballer
- Laurence Powell (born 1962), former Los Angeles police officer involved in the beating of Rodney King
- Peter Powell (born 1951), BBC Radio 1 disc jockey in the 1970s and 1980s
- Robert Powell (born 1932), American composer
- Robert Powell (born 1944), British actor
- Walter W. Powell, American sociologist
- Wendy Powell (Born 1971), American voice actor
- Matthew Powell (Born 1978) Welsh Rugby Union footballer
Fictional characters
- Colleen Powell, character in the Australian TV series Prisoner
- Herbert 'Herb' Powell, Homer Simpson's half brother
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