A relatively rare English place and surname, Hallam could make a distinctive but usable boy's name. Hallam was the surname of the beloved Cambridge friend whose death Alfred, Lord Tennyson, mourns in his famous poem In Memoriam. A.H.H. Tennyson's eldest son, whom he named Hallam, became a Governor-General of Australia.
There was a silent screen actor named Hallam Cooley, and a 2007 Scottish film titled Hallam Foe, with Jamie Bell playing the lead character.