Wahls Surname Guide

If your family name is Wahls, its origin lies with Wahl, a long-established German surname. The name is generally explained as “Foreigner”. Wahls adds a patronymic ending to Wahl, marking ‘son of’ or ‘of the family of’. Spellings drifted because names were written down by ear in parish books, tax rolls and passenger lists. Other spellings include Wahle, Wal and Vahl.

The 2010 census count for Wahls in the United States was 295, good for rank 66,931. Similar-sounding surnames on Herald Lab: Wales.

Heraldry is personal: arms associated with the Wahl surname were borne by specific families, and sharing the name does not mean sharing the blazon. Want more than a summary? See the Wahls family name pack.