Earls
A surname that likely began as a nickname or status-based name connected with an earl, the noble rank.
The #5,658 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,317 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Earls is most naturally explained as a surname formed from the word earl, the Old English eorl and Middle English erl, meaning a nobleman or high-ranking lord. As a family name, it may have been used for someone who served an earl, lived on an earl’s land, or was somehow associated with an earl’s household or authority. The final -s can reflect a patronymic or possessive-style form, but in surnames it often just became part of the inherited spelling.
History
This is a relatively uncommon surname in the United States, and historical dictionaries more often mention it in passing than as a fully separate entry. Because surnames built from ranks and offices were common in medieval England, Earls fits a broad pattern of descriptive or status-based naming. It may also have been reinforced by association with place-names or local families tied to noble estates.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The underlying word earl is one of the oldest surviving noble titles in English, older than the modern French-influenced word count.
From the historical record
“... and twegen eorlas mid [and two earls therewith], Ohtor and Hroald. — A--Saxon Chron., A.D. 918. These were Scandinavian jarls ; Roald IS the present Norwegian form.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)