874 Global SPROULE Family Members

SPROULE Family History

Recorded in a number of spellings including Spreull, Sproul, Sproull, Sproule, the genitive Sprouls, Sprulls, Sprowles, meaning ‘son of Sproul’, this is an early Scottish surname. It is a nickname deriving from the pre 7th century Gaelic word ‘spruille’ meaning something small, a morsel or fragment, but used in a figurative sense to describe a person of slight stature! However being a nickname could also have the opposite meaning and describe a very large person. The latter seems a more reasonable explanation as the name holders held status positions in Dunbartonshire from the early 13th century.