Waller
An English surname that could mean either a wall-builder or, in some places, a salt-boiler.
The #942 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 8,389 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname most likely comes from an occupational nickname. One common source is Middle English "waller(e)," from Old English "weallian"/"weallan"-related forms meaning a wall-maker or builder of walls, later also used for mason or bricklayer. Another older explanation connects it with a person who boils salt, from the Old English verb for "to boil"; both senses are recorded in historical surname dictionaries, so the name may have arisen independently in more than one line.
History
In medieval records the name appears with forms like "le Waller" and was sometimes Latinized as "murator" or "cementarius," both meaning mason/building worker. It is especially associated with English occupational naming, and later spread widely enough to remain a common surname in Britain and the United States. Some local usages, especially in the north of England and salt-working districts, favored the "boiler" sense rather than the wall-builder sense.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early authorities noted that salt-workers in places like Nantwich were called "wallers," showing how the same surname could point to a very specific local trade.
From the historical record
“WALLER (Eng.) i Wall- Maker, Mason, Bricklayer [M.E. waller{e ; M.E. ixial(h O.E. w{e)aU, a wall -|- the agent, suff. -ere] ' Henry le Wallere.^Hund. Rolls. In the M.E. period this trade-name was Latinized murator and cementarius. (occ.) 2 (Salt-)Boiler [f. M.E. walleti, O.E. ■w(e)allan, to boil] Wallers, n.…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Waller
- Fats Waller (1904–1943)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.