List
A rare surname that may have begun as a nickname or as a reduced form of a fuller name, but its origin is not securely established from the excerpts here.
The #8,623 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 80,951 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The excerpts provided do not contain a real entry explaining this surname, so its derivation cannot be pinned down from the source material. In general English onomastic terms, List could in theory relate to an Old English or Middle English word form, but no firm historical explanation is supported here. Because the evidence is fragmentary and the quoted pages are mostly tables and references, any etymology would be speculative.
History
There is no substantive historical note in the provided excerpts showing how the surname developed or spread. The modern surname is uncommon in the United States, which fits a name that may have multiple possible origins or have been introduced through different regional lines.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The word list has long had a very ordinary meaning in English, but that does not automatically tell us where the surname came from.
From the historical record
“LIST OF ORIGINAL SUBSCRIBERS Aberdeen Public Library (G. M. Fraser, Esq., Librarian). C. W. Adams, Esq., Haileybury College, Hertford. C. H. Bellamy, Esq., 7, Rue de I'Epidene, Tourcoing. James G. Bisset, Esq., 85, Broad Street, Aberdeen. Henry Brierley, Esq., 26, Swinley Road, Wigan.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)