Wahl
A German surname most likely from a byname meaning “choice” or “election,” though some older writers also linked it to an ancient Germanic personal name.
The #2,716 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,296 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In German, Wahl means “choice” or “election,” and as a surname it can have begun as a nickname or as a name given in connection with an election or selection of some kind. The historical sources also note a possible connection with older Germanic name forms such as Walah or Wala, so the surname may not have a single origin in every family. In other words, some bearers likely took the name from the ordinary German word, while others may descend from an older personal-name tradition.
History
The name is well established in German-speaking areas and is also found among immigrants to English-speaking countries. Nineteenth-century surname writers sometimes treated it as the German word for “choice,” but others preferred an older Germanic-name explanation, so the surname has been discussed in more than one way. In modern usage it is usually read as a straightforward German surname rather than a rare or artificial one.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century English surname dictionary glossed Wahl simply as the German word for “choice.”
From the historical record
“anzunehmen; meist wurden sie erst durch die Gesetzgebung, in Österreich unter Joseph U., in Preußen durch Hardenbergs Edikt vom 11. März 1812 dazu genötigt Sie hatten nun die Wahl und wählten, was auch am nächsten lag, zum großen Teil hebräische, alttestamentliche Namen, indem einfach die bis dahin geführten…”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen