Hales
A place-based surname meaning “from Hales,” especially linked to Norfolk and other English localities.
The #4,240 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 36,918 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually taken from one of several English place-names called Hales, especially the one in Norfolk. The place-name itself is commonly connected with Old English words for a nook, corner, or sheltered place, though medieval spellings vary. In some cases the name may simply mark someone as “of Hales,” rather than pointing to a single family origin.
History
Lower specifically notes Hales as a Norfolk place-name and links Roger de Halys in the 12th century to later Hales families of Kent and Coventry. Bardsley likewise treats Hales as a local surname attached to places in Staffordshire, Norfolk, and Worcestershire. The name remains established in England and later appears in North American records as well.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
At least one historical line of Hales was long associated with the baronetcy of Coventry, showing how a modest place-name could become a landed surname.
From the historical record
“&c. HALES. A town in Norfolk. Roger de Halys in 19 Hemy II. gave a tenement which he possessed in that place to the x\bbey of Baungej\ From him the Haleses of Woodchurch and Bekesbourne, co. Kent, and of Coventry, baronets, are presumed to have sprung. See Burke's Ext. Barts. HALESWORTH. A town in Suffolk. HALEY.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom