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Fall Family History

Fall Surname Meaning

Scottish or Irish: shortened form of McFall. English: topographic name Middle English fal(le) ‘fall descent’ (from Old English (ge)feall or (ge)fall ‘felling of trees’ Old Norse fall ‘forest clearing’) denoting a waterfall steep slope or (in northern England) a forest clearing.

German: topographic name from Middle High German val ‘fall (of trees)’ in some cases ‘waterfall’ or ‘landslide’; or a habitational name from a minor place called with this word or in Tyrol from Ladine val ‘valley’.

West African (mainly Senegal also Mali Mauritania and Guinea): Tukulor name of unexplained etymology.

It is also found among the Wolof and Soninke peoples.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


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Where is the Fall family from?

You can see how Fall families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Fall family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Fall families were found in USA in 1880. In 1891 there were 200 Fall families living in Yorkshire. This was about 25% of all the recorded Fall's in United Kingdom. Yorkshire had the highest population of Fall families in 1891.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Fall surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
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What did your Fall ancestors do for a living?

In 1939, General Labourer and Unpaid Domestic Duties were the top reported jobs for men and women in the United Kingdom named Fall. 16% of Fall men worked as a General Labourer and 73% of Fall women worked as an Unpaid Domestic Duties. Some less common occupations for Americans named Fall were Builders Labourer and Housewife.

View Census Data for Fall | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1939

  • General Labourer
    16%
  • Bricklayer
    16%
  • Police Constable
    11%
  • Builders Labourer
    9%

Top Female Occupations In 1939

  • Unpaid Domestic Duties
    73%
  • Unpaid Domestic
    4%
  • Domestic Servant
    3%
  • Housewife
    3%

What Fall family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 48,000 census records available for the last name Fall. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Fall census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search UK census records for Fall

Passenger Lists

There are 11,000 immigration records available for the last name Fall. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the UK, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Fall immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 27,000 military records available for the last name Fall. For the veterans among your Fall ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

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