Fall
A surname that can arise from a local name for a waterfall or hillside drop, though in some cases it may be from other regional or nickname sources.
The #6,676 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 61,017 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In English surname use, Fall is often treated as a local or topographic name, from a place marked by a fall of land, a waterfall, or a steep declivity. The underlying English word comes from Old English fall, meaning a fall or dropping down. Some nineteenth-century writers also linked the name with regional or non-English sources in particular districts, so not every bearer necessarily has the same origin.
History
Bardsley explicitly notes a local explanation for Fall, and Lower gives it as a surname found in the north of England, with some bearers possibly of Gypsy origin. The form also appears in Scottish and Irish surname material, but the evidence is mixed rather than uniform. Because the spelling is so short, some unrelated families may have been pulled together under the same written form over time.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley glossed one medieval-style form as being connected with 'at the fall,' a phrase that could mean a waterfall or a steep drop in the ground.
From the historical record
“bably menus faico, fai/con, a hawk, FALL. 1. Sec Times and Seasons. 2. In the North of England the name is fre- quently of Gipsy origin. See Faw. 3. The De Fall of the H.R. shows a local origin. FALLOW. The Scottish form of Fel- low, which see. FALSTOLFE. FASTOLFE. A great Norfolk family, one of whose members…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom