1 Galician: Castilianized form of Galician Valín, a habitational name from any of the places so named in Galicia, from a derivative of val ‘valley’.2 French: topographic name for someone who lived in a small valley, from a diminutive of Old French val ‘valley’, or a habitational name from a minor place so named in Isère.3 Swedish: habitational name for someone from a place name formed with val (from Latin vallis ‘valley’, representing Swedish dal) or vall ‘grassy bank’, ‘pasture’, + the surname suffix -in, from Latin -inius.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.