This is by no means a common Scottish surname. It is a locality name from the lands of Pitulloch in Fife, and the first three letters preserve the word "pit", which meant piece or part and is the characteristic settlement word of the Picts. The second half of the name is the Gaelic "tulach", which means little hill, so that Pattullo is "the knoll-place". Tullo, Tulloch, Tullis and Tough are all surnames with the same derivation.