An English and Scottish surname of Marshall comes from the Old French term of 'maresc' and 'marshal'. The Old High German term 'marah' meant horse and 'scalc' meant a servant. It refered to a person who looked after horses. Even the term 'blacksmith' for one who tended to horses. Eventually it came to refer to a household servant of great importance and very trusted. Then a person of governmental and military responsibilities became the name 'marshal'.

Additional spellings for Marshall include Marshale, Marshale, Marescal and Marshal.
The Polish spelling would be Marszalek.

The English counties of Yorkshire, Durham and in London have the highest percentage of families with the Marshall surname. Yorkshire has the most Marshall families in the United Kingdom. In Scotland the Marshall residents lived in Lanarkshire, Midlothian and Ayrshire counties.

In the United States the Marshall families are in Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Texas, California and Pennsylvania.

Famous: Dave Marshall (professional baseball player), Garry Marshall (TV producer, writer and actor), Humphry Marshall (18th century botanist), Penny Marshall (actress, director), Thurgood Marshall (Justice on U. S. Supreme Court), Humphrey Marshall (Civil War Confederate general) and Alan Marshall (play cricket in England).