Hull Family History
Hull Surname Meaning
English: from the Middle English personal name Hulle, a pet form of Hugh or of its common diminutives Hulin and Hulot (see Hewlett and Huling). English: in southwest England and the west and central Midlands sometimes a topographical or habitational name for someone who lived on or by a hill (Middle English atte hulle from Old English hyll) or from a place with this name.
However, this word and the derived names will have usually assumed the standard form Hill in modern times, as in the case of Hill (Gloucestershire), which was usually spelt Hull or Hulle during the Middle Ages. Hull with this origin was also once the name of two other places now lost, one in Great Budworth (Cheshire) and the other in Inkpen (Berkshire). See also Hell.
English: perhaps a habitational name from Kingston upon Hull in East Yorkshire, which takes its name from the river Hull (perhaps related to Danish hul ‘hole, hollow’ or perhaps a British name based on the root seul- ‘mud’).
In some cases, possibly also Estonian: from hull ‘crazy’, an arbitrary surname given by a manorial official. This surname is very rare in Estonia.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022