Stovall
A surname most likely from an English place name, originally identifying someone from a particular locality.
The #2,155 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,348 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Stovall is generally understood as a locational surname, probably taken from a place name in England. The first element is likely Old English stōw, meaning “place” or “site,” with a second element that is less certain and may reflect an old landscape term or local place-name form. In surnames, such names usually began as identifiers for someone who had moved away from that place.
History
The name is best known today in the United States, where it has been established for several generations, especially in the South. As with many English locational surnames, it likely arrived in America through British colonial settlement and then spread through later internal migration. The spelling Stovall appears to have become the standard modern form.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because the original place behind many locational surnames was small or vanished, some surnames preserve the name of a locality that no longer appears prominently on modern maps.