Walls
A surname that usually meant someone who lived by a wall or fortification, or sometimes descended from the old personal name Wall.
The #842 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,526 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Walls is generally understood as the plural or genitive form of Wall. In the surname sense, Wall itself could mean someone living by a town wall or defensive wall, from Middle English and Old English words for a wall or rampart. Some early writers also treated Wall as an old personal name, so Walls can sometimes be read as a patronymic-like form meaning "of Wall" or "the family of Wall."
History
The name appears in medieval records in forms such as Atte-Wall, De la Walle, and similar spellings, showing both locational and personal-name use. Later English surname forms often added an -s ending, and Walls became established as an inherited family name. It is found chiefly in English-speaking countries today, especially in Britain and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname dictionaries note that Wall could be both a place-based byname and an old personal name, so Walls may have more than one historical route into the same modern spelling.
From the historical record
“Cp. Wallace and Walsh. WALLRAVEN, v.Walraven. WALLS, pi., and genit., of Wall, q.v. WALLWORK for Wal(l)wopth, q.v. WALLWORTH, v. Walworth. WALLWRIQHT (Eng.) MasOn [O.E. w{e)dll, wall -h wyrhta, worker] WALMERSLEY (Eng.) Bel. to Walmersley (Lane), 13th cent. Walmeresley [the pers. name (in the genitive) is either…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)