Given name & surname · also Gaelic, Old Norse
Lyall
“a faithful man”·“resembling a wolf”
Lyall is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “a faithful man” and “resembling a wolf”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “a faithful man” and “resembling a wolf”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Where it comes from
A possible origin is Old Norse, although the derivation remains uncertain.
How it developed
It entered given-name use through an existing surname.
The story
Its naming history includes the use of a family name as a given name.
Lyall through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 291
- 291 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1929
- 16 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #10,287 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,287 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 16 in 1929. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 235 as a first name in 2020; 1,384 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Lyall’s family of names
Lyall has a related form in Lyell. Lyall has a related form in Lyal. Lyall has a related form in Lyel.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Lyall
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Lyall, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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