Lyell is a surname of Scotland traced to Radulphus de Insula, 11th-century Lord of Duchal. "De insula" was subsequently translated into the Old French "de l'isle" and developed into a number of variants ( Lyell; Lisle; Lyle; see below). John Lyell in 1706 emigrated to Virginia and is the progenitor of the American Lyells.
"Lyell" may refer to:
- People
- Charles Lyell (botanist) (1767–1849), Scottish botanist
- Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet (1797–1875), Scottish lawyer, geologist, and populariser of uniformitarianism, son of the botanist
- Leonard Lyell, 1st Baron Lyell (1850–1926), Scottish Liberal politician and nephew of the geologist
- Charles Henry Lyell (1875–1918), Liberal MP, son of Leonard
- Charles Anthony Lyell, 2nd Baron Lyell (1913–1943), Victoria Cross recipient, son of Charles Henry
- Charles Lyell, 3rd Baron Lyell (1939–), Conservative member of the House of Lords, son of Charles Anthony
- Nicholas Lyell, Baron Lyell of Markyate (1938–2010), British Conservative politician at the centre of the Matrix Churchill affair
- Places
- Lyell Island, in Canada
- Lyell, New Zealand, a historic gold mining settlement
- Lyells, Virginia, a crossroads in Richmond County, Virginia
- A panorama of Victoria Crater, Mars, taken by the Opportunity Rover