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Our Surnames E
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EAGER.
This is the Northern, Scottish and Irish form of EDGAR and is simply a personal
name of great antiquity, meaning “prosperity-spear”.
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EALES, EELES. In a North Pennine context, this may well be someone from one of
the Eales place-names, Grid Ref. NY6755, NY8482 and NY7685. The place names
probably indicate where eels were found. Alternatively it may be an abbreviation
of one of several Old English names beginning Aethel- or Aegel-.
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EASBY. From either of two eponymous villages: one in Cumbria, one in Yorks NR
(Grid Ref:NZ577086). Our researcher has traced her EASBY family to Appleton
Wiske, so the latter fits the present case.
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EASTERBY. There does not seem to be a village of Easterby, so the original
EASTERBY simply lived to the east of his or her home village.
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ECCLES. From the place-name. As well as the Lancashire town, there are also
villages in Berwickshire, Dumfriesshire and further afield. The place-name
usually, but not invariably, means “church”.
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EDDY. Probably a modernisation of the Old English name, Eadwig meaning “prosperity+war”.
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EDGAR. See EAGER.
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EDMONDSON. Son of Edmund.
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EELES. See EALES
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ELDER. Just what it sounds like – as opposed to “younger”!
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ELLENOR. A child of Helen or Eleanor.
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ELLIOT, ELLIOTT. The Scots derivation is much more fun than the English!
North of the Border, it is from Aelfweald:
“Elf Ruler”. South, it is just a modernisation of the Old English given name
Aethelgeat or Aethelgyth.
The ELLIOTTs were one of the four greatest Reiving families who ruled the
Debateable Land in the 16th C. (See Reivers)
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ELSDON. From Elsdon in Northumberland. (Landranger Sheet 80, Grid Ref:NY937934)
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EMBLETON. From Embleton. There
are three to choose from, in Northumberland (Grid Ref:NU231225), Durham (Grid
Ref:NZ419298) and Cumberland! (Grid Ref:NY166306).
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EMERSON,
EMMERSON. Son of Emery. Emery and Amery are variants of the same given name,
common in the early middle ages, having both Norman (Amauri) and Danish /
Old German (Amalric) precedents. It means, “work-rule”. One of the
earliest records of EMERSONs in our area is as foresters at Stanhope. The
neighbouring village, Frosterley (Landranger Sheet 92, Grid Ref. NZ 030370),
means foresters’ clearing.
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ENGLEBYE. Probably an alternative spelling of Ingleby, in Yorkshire NR,
Derbys or Notts. It’s the Danes’ name for the village of the English!
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ENGLISH. Just what it sounds like! It dates back, however when being of Angle
stock was worth distinguishing from Danish, or later from Norman-French. North
of the Border, the name INGLIS referred to an English settler.
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ERRINGTON. From Errington, Northumberland.
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ERWIN, IRWIN, URWIN. From Old English Eorforwine,
meaning “boar-friend”. A forester or herdsman, perhaps? See also IRVING
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ETHRINGTON. See HETHERINGTON
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EUDE. Huguenots who settled as
silk weavers in Spitalfields, London. The name probably comes from the French
river / département.
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EVERITT.
Probably comes from Old German, via the Normans, meaning “boar-hard” – a
tough fighter, presumably!
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EWART. Three possibilities: 1. A variant (French) of Edward. 2. A ewe-herd, as
opposed to a shepherd, implying that the animals in question were for milk,
rather than wool. 3. Coming from Ewart in Northumberland, the village name
meaning “Settlement on the River” (ea+worth). (Ewart Newtown lies a
short distance away from the confluence of Rivers Glen and Till. Was a previous
settlement flooded out? Landranger Sheet, Grid Ref. NT967315)
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