The English, German and Irish surname of Walls comes from the Old English term of ‘waell’ in reference to a sea wall or protection for a town with a stone wall or structure. The spelling variations for Walls include Wall, Walles and Wale. In England most of the Walls families lived in the northern region, centered in Yorkshire and Lancashire counties. There were some others in the city of London and nearby Essex and Sussex counties. In Scotland many Walls families are scattered across the country. The higher percentage live in Fife, Midlothian, Stirlingshire, Lanarkshire counties and the eastern islands of Orkney. Within the United States most of the Walls families originated in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, New Jersey, Arkansas and Texas. Famous: Robert Walls (footballer from Australia) and William Walls (19th century Scottish whale oil merchant with the business William Walls & Co.).