Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Popelwell 1229 Ebor 1335 YDvii 1482 YDx 1503 Ipm

• Poplewell 1329 Arm 1435 YDvii

• High Poplewell 1587 Arm

• Hy Poplewell 1658 Pick

• Popilwell 1338 WCR 1379 PT

• Hie Popilwell 1542 Testvi

• Poppulwell 1436 YDvii

• Popplewell 1597 SessnR

Etymology

Popplewell, Popelwell 1229 Ebor, 1335 YD vii, 1482 YD x, 1503 Ipm, Poplewell 1329 Arm, 1435 YD vii, High Poplewell 1587 Arm, Hy Poplewell 1658 Pick, Popilwell 1338 WCR (p), 1379 PT (p), Hie Popilwell 1542 Test vi, Poppulwell 1436 YD vii, Popplewell 1597 SessnR. Several other p.ns. (esp. in Halifax parish) have some bearing on this name; such are Popples 119, 194, 198, 207, (Bingley) pt. iv infra , and esp. Popple Wells 124 in Warley, which is from an earlier Poplandwell , Popple Well (Middleton), Poppling Well (Askwith) pt. v infra . There is no doubt that the first el. of the latter is from ME  pople 'to bubble from a spring, to flow over a pebbly surface' (cf. EDD s.v.), as in poplande hourle (Early Engl . Allit . Poetry c. 319, cf. NED s.v. hurl sb.); this verb would seem to be connected with OE  popul, dial. popple 'pebble' (as in Poppleton pt. iv infra ), and some of the Popples may contain that word in the sense 'pebble'. But it is also possible that in others (in Halifax and Wadsworth) which are the names of springs the word popul itself denotes 'a bubbling well or spring'. The dial. word popple 'pebble' seems to be evidenced chiefly in the south-west and south-west Midlands, whilst the verb popple 'to bubble' though known in parts of the south has largely a northern and East Anglian provenance. These words, like ME  burbel (cf. Burbles (Glusburn) pt. vi infra , are thought to be of onomatopoeic origin, though the variant forms suggest that they are very old (cf. EPN ii, 59, 70).Popplewell means most probably 'the bubbling spring' but it could be 'the pebbly spring'.