Rockwell is an English surname from a place name, usually explained as "rook spring" or "rocky spring" from Old English words for the bird or a rock and for a well. Illustrator Norman Rockwell, whose covers for The Saturday Evening Post shaped the image of small-town America, gives the name its warm associations. Rockwell climbed from number 6725 in 2000 to a peak of number 1516 in 2017 and ranks number 1940 in 2025.