Haller
A surname that can mean “from Halle” or, in some cases, “someone connected with a salt works.”
The #3,568 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 30,899 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is usually explained as a German habitational surname: it can mean someone from a place called Halle. Some older sources also connect it with a term for a salt works or salt worker, reflecting the importance of salt-producing sites in German-speaking areas. The ending -er is the common German suffix meaning “person from” or “one connected with” a place or occupation.
History
The surname appears in German records and was known beyond the German-speaking world through educated and scientific figures, especially the Swiss polymath Albrecht von Haller, whose works were read in England in the 18th century. English surname writers also noted the name as present in continental forms such as German Haller. In some families the place-name explanation is more likely; in others, the occupational/salt-work sense may have influenced the surname independently.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Albrecht von Haller was such a prominent scholar that 18th-century English readers encountered the surname through his medical and scientific publications.
From the historical record
“is found in the records of Leicester. HALLER. 1. See Hall, and the termi- nation ER. 2. More probably a native of Halle, in Germauj'. HALLETT. L A- Sax. Mletta, one wlio is hailed or greeted — a hero, nn eminent man. 2. A diminutive of Hal or Henry. HALLBY. Local ; but I do not find the place. HALLIDAY. A…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom