Cowell /ˈkaʊəl/ is a surname with multiple origins.
Cowell is a surname of English origin. It is a habitational name from several places in the counties of Lancashire and Gloucestershire called Cowhill, composed the Old English cu (cow) + hyll (hill). In some instances the surname Cowell may also be an Americanized form of the Polish, Jewish and Sorbian name Kowal. It could also be an anglicisation of a Scots Gaelic surname or from the Irish name McCawell.
Brady Cowell (1899–1989), American college sports coach
Brendan Cowell (born 1976), Australian actor, screenwriter and director
Cressida Cowell (born 1966), English children's author, known for novel How to Train Your Dragon
Damian Cowell, Australian musician
Edward Byles Cowell (1826–1903), professor of Sanskrit at Cambridge University
Elizabeth Cowell, British BBC television service presenter
Frank Cowell, professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science
Harry Cowell, record producer
Henry Cowell (1897–1965), American composer
Several people named John Cowell:
John Cowell, Irish World War I flying ace
John Cowell (1554–1611), English jurist
John F. Cowell (1852–1915), American botanist
John G. Cowell (1785–1814), American Navy officer in the War of 1812
Joseph Cowell (1792–1863), British actor and painter
Nicholas Cowell (born 1961), British estate agent and businessman
Philip Herbert Cowell (1870–1949), British astronomer
Roberta Cowell (1918—2011), British racing driver and World War 2 fighter pilot; and the first known British transsexual woman to undergo sex reassignment surgery
Roland Cowell American college sports coach
Sam Cowell (1820–1864), British actor and singer of comical songs
Two people named Simon Cowell:
Simon Cowell (born 1959), British record producer and impresario, known for Britain's Got Talent and other shows
Simon Cowell, British television presenter, host of Wildlife SOS
Stanley Cowell (born 1941), American jazz pianist and founder of the Strata-East Records label
Ted Bundy, American serial killer, rapist and necrophile, born Theodore Robert Cowell
Tony Cowell, British radio broadcaster and author
