Fel, in the Dutch, signifies fierce, furious, violent; also local, a rocky place, barren and stony hills; any uninclosed place; a moor, a valley. A short time since, a tradesman named James Fell migrated from Ludgate Hill to Fleetstreet, and announced the event in the following manner: "L Fell, from Ludgate Hill;" under which a wag wrote, "Oh what a fall was there, my countryman!"--Lower.

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

FELL. FELLS. ''Bij frith and hy fell;' a common medievalism ; equivalent to the classical "jjer mlvam, jier campum." "Also there is difference between the fryth and thefel; the fels are understood tlie mountains, vallyes, and pastures, with corn and such like ; open ground the frytlies betoken the springs and coppyses" woodlands. — Noble x\.rt of Ycuerie, quoted by Haniw.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.