Halls last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Halls is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Halls.

Meaning of Halls

A topographic surname derived from Old English "heall" meaning hall or manor house.

Halls, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Halls surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Halls in America

Halls is the 16004th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Halls surname appeared 1,814 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Halls.

We can also compare 2010 data for Halls to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 16004 16931 -5.63%
Count 1,814 1,550 15.70%
Proportion per 100k 0.61 0.57 6.78%

The history of the last name Halls

The surname Halls is an English name that originated in the medieval period. It is derived from the Old English word 'hall', which referred to a large dwelling or manor house. The name likely emerged as a toponymic surname, indicating that the original bearer lived near or worked in a hall.

Halls is closely related to other English surnames such as Hall, Halle, and Halles, which share the same root. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which mentions individuals with the surnames Hall and Halle living in various parts of England.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname Halls was William Halls, a 13th-century English landowner and knight who held lands in Gloucestershire. Records from the 14th century mention a John Halls, a prominent merchant and alderman in the city of London.

In the 16th century, a family of Halls owned the manor of Shrawley in Worcestershire. Thomas Halls (1535-1603) was a member of this family and served as a Member of Parliament for Worcestershire.

During the English Civil War in the 17th century, Edward Halls (1605-1679) was a Puritan clergyman and writer who supported the Parliamentary cause against King Charles I.

In the 18th century, Samuel Halls (1743-1825) was a notable English engraver and printmaker, known for his intricate engravings of architectural subjects and landscapes.

Another prominent figure with the surname Halls was Sir William Halls (1800-1876), a British naval officer and explorer who served in the Royal Navy and played a significant role in the exploration of the Arctic regions.

The name Halls has also been associated with various place names in England, such as Hallsall in Lancashire and Hallsborough in Northamptonshire, which may have influenced the development of the surname in those regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Halls

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Halls.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Halls was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 73.21% 1,328
Non-Hispanic Black Only 21.66% 393
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.50% 9
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.50% 9
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.21% 22
Hispanic Origin 2.92% 53

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Halls has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 73.21% 69.94% 4.57%
Black 21.66% 25.81% -17.48%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.50% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.50% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 1.21% 1.29% -6.40%
Hispanic 2.92% 2.26% 25.48%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Halls was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Halls, please contact us.

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Halls last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/halls-surname-popularity/.

"Halls last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/halls-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Halls last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/halls-surname-popularity/.

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