Birchall is an English surname deriving from the settlement of Biekel, Lancashire, and derived from Birch - hill. The village of Biekel later became "Birtle".
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Variant forms include Burchall and Burchill.
It is most commonly found in the North-West of England, particularly Lancashire. The highest proportion of bearers can be found in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The first recorded bearer was John de Birchall de Birtles in 1401.
The surname is less commonly found in other areas of the former British Empire, including Canada and the United States. Only one early migrant to Australia was recorded with this name, a convicted criminal, James Stanley Birchall, a Protestant from Chorley in Lancashire; on 10 April 1851 he was sent to Norfolk Island for committing forgery.
The surname is also found in Sussex where it appears to have originated from the village of Billingshurst, where it can be found in the sixteenth century in its original form of Burchfold; this changed to Burchall in the mid-seventeenth century. A branch of the family migrated to Guildford, Surrey where they supplied two mayors – John and Richard Burchall, who entered a pedigree in the Heralds Visitations.