EAGLES
Eagles is a surname of English provenance, principally situated within the British Isles, and recorded from earliest times to the present day. The name occurs in a number of spellings, including Egle, Eagell, and Eglese, evidence of the phonetic variations that were common before standardised spelling emerged.
The earliest surviving instance of the name is found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1230, where a man named Ralph Egle is recorded. This places the surname in the early twelfth century, at a time when English society was being reorganised under the reign of King Henry II. Subsequent church registers provide further snapshots: in 1596 an infant named John was christened at Repps with Bastwick in Norfolk as the son of George and Marie Eagle; in 1612 another Christening took place at St. James', Clerkenwell in London, where the infant Anne was born to William Eagle.
The surname is generally understood to derive from the Middle English word egle, itself a borrowing from the Old French aigle, which in turn is derived from the Latin aquila. The name would originally have served as a nickname for a person perceived as possessing eagle‑like qualities – keen sight, an imposing or noble demeanour, or a bold spirit. In the medieval era this nickname was predominantly found in East Anglia. It is therefore likely that the name was given to someone admired for their sharp vision or commanding presence.
Two alternative locational origins are also documented. The first connects the surname with the dialectal form of the place name Oakley; the locality in Lincolnshire bearing this name produced bearers of the surname in the post‑conquest period. The second locational source links Eagles with the Norman French placename Laigle, situated in the province of Orne, suggesting that some bearers of the name migrated from continental Europe to England after the Norman Conquest of 1066.
There is also evidence of a more topographical explanation within the Anglo‑Saxon tradition. An Old English term meaning ‘corner or angle’ was recorded as Egles or egl in pre‑seventeenth‑century documents. This would signify a person living at a projecting piece of land and could well give rise to the surname in contact with the southern English dialects. Additionally, an Old English personal name Ægel is sometimes cited, implying that the surname could be patronymic, meaning ‘son of Ægel’.
Throughout the centuries, Eagles has remained an uncommon surname, but it continues to be most frequently found in England, with a concentration in the south‑east of the country. In the twentieth century, bearers of the name are recorded in various parts of the United Kingdom, and in smaller numbers in Canada, Australia and the United States – a pattern reflecting the broader migration movements of English families seeking employment or fleeing domestic unrest.
Variations of the surname have widened over time: apart from Egle and Eagell, other forms such as Eagle, Eggle and Eagels appear in parish and civil records. Despite these differences, the common suffix -es remains a marker of the original English derivation for most modern English form of the name.
Typical given names associated with the Eagles surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Matthew
- Michael
- Paul
- Richard
- Robert
Female
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Jane
- Janet
- Jennifer
- Joan
- Margaret
- Rachel
- Sandra
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Eagles in...
Braille
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Morse
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There are approximately 1,827 people named Eagles in the UK. That makes it roughly the 4,532nd most common surname in Britain. Around 28 in a million people in Britain are named Eagles.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Eagles
- Chris Eagles - Football player
- Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - Writer
- Alan Eagles - Association football player (1933 to 1995)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.