Hall Family History

English, Scottish, Irish, German, Norwegian, and Danish surnames derive from Middle English hall (Old English heall), Middle High German halle, and Old Norse hǫll, all meaning ‘hall’ (a spacious residence). This term serves as a topographic name for those who lived in or near a hall, or as an occupational name for a servant employed at a hall. In some instances, it may also be a habitational name from various locations named with this word, which in parts of Germany and Austria during the Middle Ages sometimes referred to a salt mine.

Hall is one of the most common and widely distributed English surnames, signaling the significance of the hall as a central element within medieval village life. The English surname has been present in Ireland since the 14th century and, as noted by MacLysaght, has surged in prevalence in Ulster since the 17th century.

In Swedish, the surname can be an ornamental or topographic name derived from hall, meaning ‘hall’ (a spacious residence), or it may originate from a placename that includes the element hall ‘rock’ (from Old Norse hallr).

In Chinese, the surname is a variant Romanization of the characters 何 and 賀, related to the surname He 1.