This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Hull,' an important seaport town in East Riding of Yorkshire.

Elena de Hull, 1370: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Robertas Hall, 1379: ibid.

(a) Local, 'at the hull,' i.e. hill.

'Upon the hulles hyhe Of Othrin and Olympe also, And eke of three liulles mo She fond and gadreth herbes sweet.': Gower.

'By dales and by hulles.': Piers.

Elyas de la Hulle, Wiltshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Gunnilda de la Hull, Oxfordshire, ibid.

Roger a' Hull. Oxfordshire, ibid.

Leticia atte Hulle, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Nicholas' ntte Hulle. Calendarium Inquisitionum Post Mortem.

Jordan de la Hulle. Placitorum in domo capitulari Westmonasteriensi.

) (English) 1 Dweller at a Hill [Middle English hull(e, Old English hyll] Gunnilda de la Hull.—Hundred Rolls Nicholas atte Hulle.—Cal. Inq. P.M. Robert del Hulle.— Chesh. Chmbrlns.’ Accts., A.D. 1302-3. Undur an hull a cave he fond.— Gower, Confess. Amantis, v. 1573. 2 Dweller by a Holly-Tree [Dialectal English hull, holly; Old English hole(g)n] (? Scandinavian) belonging to Hull (properly King- ston-upon-Hull, from Edward I., who bought the town-lands) [the stream-name is prob. the Dano-Norwegian hul(e (Old Norse hola), a hollow; a second (water-) element, like aa, or even bæk, having been lost] To Kingston . . whom Hull doth newly name, Of Humber-bord’ring Hull, who hath not heard the fame? Drayton, Poly-Olbion, Song 28,391-2.

City in Yorkshire, England.

(English) An early spelling of Hill, q.v.; one who lived near the Hull (muddy river), a river in Yorkshire; one who came from Hull (hollow), Cheshire.

Old English, A hill; but perhaps specifically from Hull, co. York.

Local. From the city of Hull, in Yorkshire, England, which comes from the Teutonic or Saxon Hiden or Heulen, to howl, from the noise the river Hull makes when it meets there with the sea. Hull is an old word for a hill; Hull, Welsh, a rough, uneven place.

The city of Hull was anciently famous for its good government, whence arose this old saying, called the Beggars' and Vagrants' Litany:

"From Hell, Hull, and Halifax,

Good Lord deliver us!"

From Hull, because of the severe chastisement they met with there, and from Halifax, for a law there instantly beheading with an engine, without any legal proceedings, those who were taken in the act of stealing cloth—either being probably more terrible than Hell itself.

From Hull co. York; or hull, an old word for a hill.

(English), Hill, Hovel, Holly-tree.

The Dorset Hulls probably derive their name from a place in the county.