From Germanic 'marah' (horse) + 'scalc' (servant), originally a horse keeper, later a high military rank.
Marshal — and its more common spelling Marshall — carries an occupational pedigree as distinguished as any name in the English canon. It descends from the Old French "mareschal," which was itself borrowed from Frankish roots combining "marh" (horse) and "skalkaz" (servant), making the original marshal literally a keeper of horses. From that humble beginning the title climbed the feudal hierarchy until it designated one of the highest military commanders in European kingdoms.
By the time surnames were being fixed in the medieval period, Marshal had become one of the great honorifics, and the name stuck. The historical record is rich with Marshals. William Marshal, First Earl of Pembroke, is frequently cited by medieval historians as the greatest knight of his era: he served five English kings, was a key architect of Magna Carta, and at the age of seventy led English forces to victory at the Battle of Lincoln.
In American history the name threads through figures like Marshall Field, the retail magnate who transformed commerce in Chicago, and Thurgood Marshall, who as a civil rights attorney argued Brown v. Board of Education and later became the first African-American Justice of the Supreme Court. In popular culture, the name found fresh life through the character Marshall Eriksen in the television series How I Met Your Mother — earnest, warm, and deeply loyal.
As a given name rather than a surname, Marshal (single L) reads as slightly more streamlined and personal. It has never been extremely common, which gives it a pleasant independence. The name carries associations of authority, service, and principled action — a solid foundation for any child.