Toll

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Tõll in EE Estonia.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 20 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Toll is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Polish surname654 records spelled Toll2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, United States

  Also written Tel

• a separate surname612 records spelled Toll2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Sweden, Spain, Türkiye

  Also written Töll

• Swedish surname553 records spelled Toll8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Sweden, United States, Norway, Netherlands

  Languages: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish

  Also written Tel

• French surname510 records spelled Toll8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Spain, United States, Canada

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Tel, Tél, Tèl, ́tel, Têl

• Spanish surname296 records spelled Toll9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Peru, Brazil, United States, Israel

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Tel, Tél, Tël, Têl, Tèl

• Italian surname77 records spelled Toll3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Italy

  Also written Tel, Tõll

35 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Toll is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, great, terrific

  as a word·A Frequency Dictionary of German

• In English, A fee paid for some liberty or privilege, particularly for the privilege of passing over a bridge or on a highway, or for that of vending goods in a fair, market, etc.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In German, great, nice, wonderful

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In kr, s. (i. q. fdrl) \) the above, heaven: toll wune, look up! tSlin yer til, salvation came from above. 2) top, pitch; e.g. toll nembe, the top of a house: toll ges- gdbe , the top of a tree

  as a word·Kanuri-English Vocabulary (in African Native Literature)

• In Hungarian, feather (a branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Notable people with this name●

• Johan Christopher Tollb. 1743SESwedish noble, soldier and politician (1743-1817)
• Eduard von Tollb. 1858EEBaltic German explorer (1858–1902)
• Nicholas Peter Tollb. 1894archaeologist (1894–1985)
• Herman Tollb. 1907USAmerican politician (1907–1967)
• Jack Tollb. 1914GBEnglish footballer (1914-1972)
• Robert I. Tollb. 1940USbusinessperson
• John Tollb. 1952USAmerican cinematographer and producer
• Judy Tollb. 1958USAmerican actress (1958-2002)
• Ian W. Tollb. 1967USAmerican historian
• Vanessa Tollactress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 23 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Toll?

We estimate roughly 4.7 thousand people bear Toll (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Toll have the most bearers?

We estimate about 2.3 thousand people bear Toll in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled toll.

Where is Toll most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Toll is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 17 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

What does the name Toll mean?

Recorded meaning: from OE *Toll or Anglo-Scand *Toll, from ON Porleifr/Porleikr, or from dialectal tott 'a clump of trees'; first attested Tolle le grangier 1218 AssL