Sidwell

Anglicized form of Sadfyl which itself is considered a Cornish calque of Old English sidu "morality, good conduct; purity; modesty" as well as "ritual, religious practice, rite" and Old English full "full, filled, complete, entire" and hence understood as "the virtuous one". Saint Sidwell was a virgin saint from the English county of Devon. The Catalogus Sanctorum Pausantium in Anglia describes her as a native of Exeter who was beheaded by reapers, who were incited so to do by her stepmother. She is said to have been buried outside the city, where the sick could be healed at her grave. Saint Sidwell is the patron saint of Exeter.

Transferred use of the surname Sidwell.