Dail
A short surname probably connected with a valley or low-lying place, especially in Gaelic or northern English usage.
The #8,946 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 84,380 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is most plausibly linked to Gaelic dail, an old word for a meadow, field, or valley-like place, with close cognates in Old Irish and Welsh. In surname use, it likely began as a topographic byname for someone living by such a place or coming from one. Some older writers also treat it as connected with local place-names containing the same root.
History
As a surname, Dail is uncommon and may also appear as a shortened or altered form of longer place-based names in some records. The root is widespread in Celtic languages, which helped it survive in many related place-names across Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Because the documentary evidence here is mostly incidental, the exact line of descent for any one family named Dail can vary by region.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Celtic root behind Dail also appears in many place-names, which is why it can look like a simple English word but has a much older Celtic history.
From the historical record
“1891. Dird-Williim Rdovi^Ballcwill: Dail^TeleKnijh, J.!y .4. London, 1 1 New York, 1. BoU.— (i) Bapt. 'the Bon of Baldwin,' rroTD the nick. Bald.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances