Wales Family History

English:: habitational name from Wales near Sheffield (South Yorkshire). The placename means ‘The Welshmen’ and denoted a settlement of Brittonic speakers living on the boundary between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia (from Old English wēalas walas plural of walh wealh originally meaning ‘Roman citizen’ and referring to the native British population but in Old English this term later came to mean ‘serf unfree person foreigner’ or ‘Welshman’). See also Wallis . habitational name from Wales the country named from Old English wēalas ‘foreigners’ (especially those speaking Celtic or Romance languages). This meaning of the surname is quite rare. (of Norman origin): from the Anglo-Norman French personal name Wales (see Wale and compare Gales ). (of Norman origin): variant of Wale with post-medieval excrescent -s. (of Norman origin): variant of Wallis .

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022