What does the name Thrale mean?

  • Posted on: 22 September 2009
  • By: David Thrale

The name Thrale or Thrall is thought to derive from the Old English term 'præl' or the Old Norse term 'præll', meaning …

a villein, serf, bondman.
It is likely to have arisen from the requirement to work three or four days a week for the Lord of the Manor. 1

  • 1. The Origins of English Surname. Percy Hide Reaney and Richard Middlewood Wilson. pp. 445 Fifth impression 1979. ISBN 0 7100 0353 6.