This most interesting surname "Lyall" is found early in Scotland and was derived from the Old Norse given name "Liulfr" meaning Wolf. After the Viking settlement in Scotland name sounds would have changed. For example, "Liulfr" is pronounced 'lee-oolv-ur', but after time probably softened in pronunciation to 'lee-ooler' and then 'loo-il' and finally 'lyall' after the Old Norse "R" was dropped off the end. The Lyall Clan is a Sept of Clan Sinclair a Highland Scottish clan of Norman origin a people descended from Norse Vikings who held lands in the north of Scotland, the Orkney Islands, and the Lothians. Lyall is a surname and it may refer to:
Alfred Comyn Lyall (1835–1911), British civil servant and poet
Bill Lyall (born 1941), Canadian politician
Billy Lyall (1953–1989), Scottish musician with the band Pilot
Clancy Lyall (1925–2012), born Clarence Odell Lyall, an American soldier
Charles James Lyall (1845–1920), English civil servant working in India
Charles Ross Lyall (1880–1950), British career soldier and cricketer
David Lyall (1817–1895), Scottish botanist
Gavin Lyall (1932–2003), English author of espionage novels
George Lyall, Sr (1779–1853), Chairman of the Honourable East India Company
Graeme Lyall (born 1942), Australian musician, composer and arranger
James Lyall (1827–1905), Presbyterian minister in South Australia.
James Broadwood Lyall (1838–1916), administrator in the Indian Civil Service, brother of Sir Alfred Lyall
John Edwardes Lyall (1811–1845), British lawyer, Advocate-General of Bengal, son of George Lyall
Laura Muntz Lyall (1860–1930), Canadian impressionist painter
Sarah Lyall (born c. 1963), American journalist in England
William Lyall (1821–1888), Australian pastoralist and politician
William Lyall (priest) (1788–1857), English churchman closely related to the civil servants above