Whitehall

See also: White Hall

English

Horse Guards passing through Whitehall, London

Etymology

From Middle English whit (“white”) + halgh (“corner, nook; hall”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaɪthɔːl/, /ˈʍaɪthɔːl/

Proper noun

Whitehall (countable and uncountable, plural Whitehalls)

1. A wide street in Westminster between Parliament Square and Trafalgar Square; it houses several government offices.
2. (UK politics, by extension, metonymic) The British government or civil service
   • 1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:

     […] both Whitehall and Downing Street are in a blue funk lest they should do the wrong thing, either let the man slip away with the papers or arrest him without them.

   • 2000 July 27, Richard Norton-Taylor, “Analysis: The secret's out”, in the Guardian‎^[1]:

     Britain's securocracy — Whitehall spymasters, backed up by government lawyers, engaged in the increasingly thankless task of preserving state secrets — are faced with an intriguing conundrum. What do they do when the bulwark they have been relying on for so long to protect their secrets crumbles before their eyes?

   • 2020 December 2, Philip Haigh, “When will Wales's wish for rail improvements come true?”, in Rail, page 32:

     It notes: "The Welsh Government's view is that genuine 'levelling up' cannot simply mean a sprinkling of new, ad hoc rail projects decided in Whitehall, it has to be part of a strategic approach to promoting growth in all parts of the UK."

3. A number of other places in England:
   1. An eastern suburb of Bristol (OS grid ref ST6174).
   2. A hamlet in Hemyock parish, Mid Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref ST1214).
   3. A hamlet in Marwood parish, North Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SS5337).
   4. A hamlet in Odiham parish, Hart district, Hampshire (OS grid ref SU7452).
   5. A hamlet in Sandon parish, North Hertfordshire district, Hertfordshire (OS grid ref TL3331).
   6. A suburb of Darwen, Blackburn with Darwen borough, Lancashire (OS grid ref SD6920).
   7. A hamlet in Shipley parish, Horsham district, West Sussex (OS grid ref TQ1321).
4. A village on the isle of Stronsay, Orkney Islands council area, Scotland (OS grid ref HY6528).
5. A northern suburb of Dublin, Ireland (Irish grid ref O 1638).
6. A number of places in the United States:
   1. An unincorporated community in Poinsett County, Arkansas.
   2. Former spelling of White Hall, California.
   3. A neighbourhood of Athens, Clarke County, Georgia.
   4. An unincorporated community in Clay Township, Owen County, Indiana.
   5. An unincorporated community in LaSalle Parish, Louisiana.
   6. An unincorporated community in Livingston Parish, Louisiana.
   7. An unincorporated community in Dorchester County, Maryland.
   8. A city and township in Muskegon County, Michigan.
   9. A town in Jefferson County, Montana.
   10. An unincorporated community in Andover Township, Sussex County, New Jersey.
   11. A town and village therein, in Washington County, New York.
   12. A city in Franklin County, Ohio.
   13. A borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
   14. A township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
   15. An unincorporated community in King and Queen County, Virginia.
   16. A city, the county seat of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin.
7. A surname from Middle English.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Whitehall is the 39117^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 563 individuals. Whitehall is most common among White (66.43%) and Black/African American (21.14%) individuals.

See also

• Downing Street

References

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Whitehall”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.