English, Scottish, and northern Irish: habitational name from any of several places in England and Scotland, variously spelled, that are named with Old English cald ‘cold’ + well(a) ‘spring’, ‘stream’. Caldwell in North Yorkshire is one major source of the surname; Caldwell in Renfrewshire in Scotland another.
FOREBEARS Several Caldwells emigrated from Scotland to America by way of Ireland in the 18th century. James Caldwell (1734–81), son of settler John Caldwell, was born in Charlotte Co., VA, and was a militant clergyman during the revolutionary war. Andrew Caldwell, a Scottish farmer, emigrated to America in 1718 and started a family in Lancaster Co., PA. His son David was a Presbyterian clergyman and well-known revolutionary war patriot.
