Pulliam
A surname most likely from a place-name or an older personal name, later fixed in English-speaking families.
The #3,099 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 26,586 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Pulliam is an English surname whose exact origin is not fully settled. It is often treated as a variant that developed from an older place-name or from a now-rare personal name, with the ending -am suggesting a historical English locality or habitational form. In some cases, surnames of this shape were later standardized in spelling when families migrated and clerks recorded the name phonetically.
History
The surname is best known in the United States, where it appears to have become established through early colonial and post-colonial migration from the British Isles. Like many surnames with unstable early spellings, it may have several local branches that are not all from one original source. The modern U.S. form Pulliam is often treated as a fixed spelling of an older English family name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because surnames were often written by ear, the same family line could appear in records under several spellings before one form became standard.