'polled' originates from English, specifically from the verb and noun 'poll' (modern English), where 'poll' referred to the 'head' and by extension to counting heads (voting) and to the top of the head.

'polled' changed from Middle English 'pol' (meaning 'head') and Old English 'poll' (or similar Germanic forms meaning 'head'); from the noun sense 'head' came the verb sense 'to count heads' (hence to take a vote), and the adjective sense developed for animals with the head (or horns) altered—eventually forming the modern past participle 'polled'.

Initially it meant 'head' (counting heads, identifying the crown of the head); over time the meaning extended to 'count votes' (a poll/survey) and to describe animals without horns ('dehorned' or naturally hornless), yielding the modern senses of 'polled'.