Rall History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The Rall surname is a patronymic from a medieval form of the personal name Ralph.

Early Origins of the Rall family

The surname Rall was first found in Cornwall where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Kennet and Trevil in St.Juliet. "The manor called Tresparvet [in the parish of St. Ives] belongs to William Rawle, Esq. in whose family it has been vested for many generations. The manor of Tremorvill or Tremorill, which belonged to the Bottreaux family so early as the reign of Edward I. is the property of Mr. Rawle." 1

Early History of the Rall family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rall research. Another 168 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1400, 1632, 1658, 1660, 1683, 1686 and 1727 are included under the topic Early Rall History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rall Spelling Variations

Cornish surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The official court languages, which were Latin and French, were also influential on the spelling of a surname. Since the spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and 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 of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. Lastly, spelling variations often resulted from the linguistic differences between the people of Cornwall and the rest of England. The Cornish spoke a unique Brythonic Celtic language which was first recorded in written documents during the 10th century. However, they became increasingly Anglicized, and Cornish became extinct as a spoken language in 1777, although it has been revived by Cornish patriots in the modern era. The name has been spelled Rawle, Rawles, Rorles, Ralls, Rall and others.

Early Notables of the Rall family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Francis Rawle (1660-1727), Cornish colonist, born in England, son of Francis Rawle, and came of an old Cornish family of some wealth and standing, settled at one time near St. Juliot, and later in the neighbourhood of Plymouth. "Both father and son were Quakers, and were persecuted...
Another 54 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Rall Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rall Ranking

In the United States, the name Rall is the 13,673^rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Rall migration to the United States +

Discovered in the immigration and passenger lists were a number of people bearing the name Rall:

Rall Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Christ Rall, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1805 3
Magdalene Rall, aged 8, who landed in New York, NY in 1854 3
John Rall, who arrived in Mobile, Ala in 1860 3
Gottlob Friedrich Rall, who landed in St Clair County, Illinois in 1867 3
Carl Rall, aged 19, who settled in America, in 1893

Rall Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Jane Rall, aged 40, who landed in America from Glasgow, Scotland, in 1907
Emil J. Rall, aged 41, who landed in America, in 1908
Harris F. Rall, aged 39, who settled in America, in 1909
James Rall, aged 18, who immigrated to the United States from Bellshill, Scotland, in 1921
Alf Rall, aged 35, who landed in America, in 1921
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Rall (post 1700) +

Thomas Edward "Tommy" Rall (1929-2020), American ballet dancer, tap dancer and acrobatic dancer
Harris Franklin Rall Ph. D. (1870-1964), American academic, the 1st President of Iliff School of Theology
David Platt Rall (1926-1999), American cancer specialist and a leader in environmental health studies
Johann Gottlieb Rall (1726-1776), German colonel, Commander of Hessian troops in Trenton, New Jersey at the Battle of Trenton during the American War of Independence
Wilfrid Rall (b. 1922), American neuroscientist, considered one of the founders of computational neuroscience
Ted Rall (b. 1963), American columnist, syndicated editorial cartoonist, and author, former President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (2008-2009)
Günther Rall, German fighter pilot and flying ace in the Luftwaffe, during World War II, credited with 275 aerial victories, awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Dr. Ing. Viktor Rall (1896-1984), German engineer, veteran of both World Wars, awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Lieutenant-General Günther Rall (1918-2009), German fighter pilot, the third most successful fighter ace in history with 275 aerial victories; he was shot down 8 times and wounded 3 times

Citations +

Hutchins, Fortescue, The History of Cornwall, from the Earliest Records and Traditions to the Present Time. London: William Penaluna, 1824. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)