This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the hall.' This has, of course, produced separate stocks all over the country, and every local directory teems with the name; v. Hale. The hall was almost as familiar as the green. It seems to have been a kind of superior and more pretentious dwelling, but not 'the Hall,' as understood in the present day.

Roger de la Halle, Cambridgeshire. 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Walter de la Halle, Salop, ibid.

William atte Halle, Close Rolls, 16 Edward III. pt.

Willelmus atte Hall', 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Isabella at ye Halle, ibid.

Thomas del Hall. c. Henry IV: Estates and Families of Cumberland, Cumberland.

Local. In Latin documents de Aula. Waldeu de Aula witnessed a charter by Walter de Veteri Ponte a. 1200 (LSC., 44). John of the Hall was one of an inquest made at Berwick, 1302 (Bain, II 1313), and c. 1311 Thomas dictus del Halle witnessed resignation by Adam de Dowane of his land of Grenryg in the barony of Lesmahagow (Kelso, 195). In 1325 mention is made of Thomas dictus de Aula (LCD., p. 237), and Andreas de Aula held land in Aynstrother c. 1330 (Dryburgh, 252). The first Hall of Fulbar in Renfrewshire was Thomas de Aula, surgeon, who for his faithful service obtained from Robert II a grant of land in the tenement of Staneley, barony of Renffrow, 1370 (RMS., I, 407,540). The direct line of Hall of Fulbar ceased c. 1550. Richard de Aula was tenant in Garvald, 1376 (RHM., I, p. lviii). Nichol del Hall was merchant of the duke of Albany, 1400 (Bain, IV, 570). William de Aula was chaplain to Alexander Hume of Dunglass, 1423 (HMC., 12. Rep App. 8, p. 87), and another William de Hall held a land in Irvine, 1426 (Irvine, I, p. 130). John de Hall, witness in Glasgow, 1454 (LCD., p. 176), burgess there in 1456, and mentioned along with Nicholas de Aula, 1463 (REG., 380,389). Allane of Hall in Sancharmyr was burgess of Prestwick, 1470 (Prestwick, 13), and in 1485 there is recorded an indenture between Robyne of Hall of the Fulbare and the Friars of Glasgow (LCD., p. 195). Henrie Hall in Perth was charged with participating in 'Idolatrus pastyme' in 1581 (Mill, Plays, p. 279). David Hall (c. 1714—1772), born in Edinburgh, became partner with Benjamin Franklin in printing business. Hale 1485, Haw 1497.

(English) 1 Dweller at or by a Hall [Old English h(e)all] Walter de la Halle.—Hundred Rolls John atte Halle.—Cal. Inq. P.M.

2 confused with Hale, q.v.

3 = Hal, a pet form of Harry, q.v.

A variant of MacCaul, q.v. Hall without the prefix Mac in English

(English) Dweller in, or near, the manor house; servant in the principal room of the manor house; dweller at the rock or stone, generally a boundary marker.

A manor house. In medieval documents, Atte Halle, Del Hall, De Aula, &c. The principal apartment in all old mansions was the hall, and in feudal times it was a petty court of justice as well as the scene of entertainment. The chief servitor when the lord was resident, or the tenant when he was non-resident, would naturally acquire such a surname; and hence its frequency. Nearly 300 traders so called appear in the Lond. Direct.

Serlo de Haula, of Normandy 1198 (Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae); also Robert de Hala. In 1105 Thomas de Hal and Richard de la Hale held in Lincoln from De Senlis. The family was of importance in the west of England. See Hawley. The name includes families of various origin, some perhaps not Norman.

Or De Clarefai. The learned Joseph Hall, Bishop of Norwich, was son of Hall, seneschal to the Earl of Huntingdon, President of the North, and by his arms is identified as one of the Lincolnshire family of Halls of Grantham, the ancestor of which, on marriage with an heiress of the Halls, assumed the name and arms. William Fitz­william, son of Thomas, and brother of John Fitzwilliam, 14th cent., was the person alluded to who took the name of Hall, as appears from the Lincoln Visitation, 1592. See Fitz­william.

(English), House, Manor-house, Dwelling.

From the Old Norse, Hallr; from the Swedish, Hall; from the Flemish, Hal; a personal name.

Hall: (Anglo-Saxon), a slope. Tichenhall is Ticenhealh, the slope of the goat. Holton in Somerset is Healhton - in A.S., the tun on a slope. Heale is a name of a place and a surname in Devon. Rushall in Yorkshire is the rushy slope. Willenhall is the slope of Willan. Hales signifies the slopes. Willingale Spain was Uulingehala, a hill-slope on which a soldier of fortune from Spain named Henry de Ispania settled. But it had an earlier settler called Willa, whose family was that of the Willings. Hall, however, is the aula of a manor as well, and has given its name to families, but probably not so often as the slope; for the family in the aula would be well known, as manorial owners, and have their names, whereas the humble cotter on the hill­side would be a William on Healh or Richard Hall.

Hall. —Distributed all over England. Two principal areas of greatest frequency: one in the north of England in the counties of Northumberland and Durham, where it attains the greatest relative frequency, extending, however, in moderate numbers across the border into central Scotland; the other in the midland counties, especially in Derbyshire. Rarest in the south - east and south - west of England, and in Wales, In Essex its place is taken by Halls.

The surname Hall is a local name from the Old English Hall or Heall, meaning ‘a hall or large house’. The name Hall was originally given to someone who lived in or by (or was employed at) the hall or manor. Field, Castle and Stone are other common examples of local names of this type.

However, not all Halls derive from this source. This name frequently occurs in the north-east of England, and it seems that here the name Hall is a local name deriving from the Old Norse for a ‘boulder or slope’ and was given to someone who lived on, near, or under some prominent boulder or hillside. (As such, it would mean much the same as the name Stone.) A variation of this latter derivation is the name Hallam, which is found mainly in nearby West Yorkshire. Here, Hallam is a local name deriving from the Old Norse for ‘at the stone or slope’. However, in some cases the name Hallam was given to a native of Hallam in the old parish of Sheffield. The surname Hall goes back to early feudal times. One Warin de Halla is mentioned in the 1178 Pipe Rolls for Essex, and two examples of the name appear in the Hundred Rolls of 1273. Here one Roger de la Halle is recorded in the Cambridgeshire records, while a Walter de la Halle appears in the records for Salop. (The Norman French ‘de la’ would suggest that in these cases they were probably employed at the hall or manor.) Halley’s Comet, named for Edward Halley (1656—1742) and first observed by him in 1682, is probably the brightest and most spectacular known to us. Its brilliant passage across the heavens has long been thought to presage great historical events. It was seen in 1066 at the time of the Norman Conquest and is next due in 1986.

Big Ben, actually the name of the bell, not the clock, is named after the rotund parliamentarian Sir Benjamin Hall (1802—67), who was Minister of Works when the bell was cast for St Stephen’s Tower.

Aluminium was made practicable by the invention of the electrolysis process by the American chemist, Charles Martin Hall (1863-1914).

The United Kingdom has 21 Hall-related towns and cities. These range from Halland to Hall Thwaites. Canada has 4 towns with Hall-related names while the United States has 14. Related town names are prevalent throughout Europe, there being 32 in all. These range from Austria’s Hall to Denmark’s Hallundback. Hall is unusually common as a geographic name ranging from the United Kingdom’s Halley Bay to Hall Table Mountain in Mozambique.

With about 181,000 namesakes Hall is the 17th most popular surname in England and Wales. (The name is not common enough throughout Scotland to be counted separately.) Hall is notably popular in and around Teesside where an estimated one in about 200 families bears the name. In descending numerical order Leicester, Sheffield and Leeds are other Hall strongholds. Around the world Halls are most common in Melbourne (one in 582 families), Canberra (one in 590) and Sydney (one in 601). The United States has more Halls than the entire population of Bristol-an estimated total of just over 494,000 makes this their 24th most popular surname.