Origins Available: English,
Italian
The name Faller was brought to
England in the great wave of migration following the
Norman Conquest of 1066. The Faller family lived in
Midlothian. The name comes from the Old English word
fall, which, strangely, could indicate someone who lived near either a
waterfall or a
meadow. Another derivation suggests that the name is a
local reference to the area of
Falaise, Normandy. Time has confused the two derivations, and it is now extremely difficult to tell which is appropriate in a given case.
Early Origins of the Faller family
The surname Faller was first found in
Midlothian where they held a
family seat from very early times and were granted lands by Duke William of
Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.
Early History of the Faller family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Faller research.
Another 195 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1165, 1421, 1453, and 1567 are included under the topic Early Faller History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Faller Spelling Variations
Norman surnames are characterized by a multitude of
spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are largely due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The introduction of Norman French to
England, as well as the official court languages of Latin and French, also had pronounced influences on the spelling of surnames. Since medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings. The name has been spelled Falla, Fala, Falle, Falls, Fallows, Fallis and many more.
Early Notables of the Faller family (pre 1700)
More information is included under the topic Early Faller Notables in all our
PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Faller family to the New World and Oceana
Many English families emigrated to North American colonies in order to escape the political chaos in Britain at this time. Unfortunately, many English families made the trip to the New World under extremely harsh conditions. Overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the stormy Atlantic. Despite these hardships, many of the families prospered and went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the United States and Canada. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the name Faller or a variant listed above:
Faller Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
- Johan Joseph Faller, aged 23, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1733 [1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8) - Anna Catharina Faller, who settled in Philadelphia in 1791
Faller Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- Aloyse Faller, who settled in America in 1828
- Adam Faller, who landed in North America in 1832 [1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8) - John Faller, who landed in New York in 1834 [1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8) - Adam Faller, who settled in New York in 1840
- Johann Faller, who arrived in New York, NY in 1850 [1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8) - ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Faller Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
- Marion Faller, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Tomatin" in 1840 [2]CITATION[CLOSE]
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) TOMATIN 1840. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1840Tomatin.htm
Contemporary Notables of the name Faller (post 1700)
- Marion Faller (1941-2014), American photographer
- Dr. James E. Faller, American physicist and inventor
- Chris Faller (b. 1985), American musician, bassist of The Hush Sound
- Ruwen Faller (b. 1980), German sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres
- Kevin Faller (1920-1983), Irish scriptwriter and poet
- Edwin Faller and Hermann Faller, German brother who founded Faller, a German toy company in Stuttgart in 1946
- Newton Faller (1947-1996), Brazilian computer scientist and electrical engineer who discovered adaptive Huffman codes, eponym of the Newton Faller Award