Ample Surname History

Origins Available:
England

The name Ample reached England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Ample is for a person employed as an enameller, and derives from the Anglo-Norman-French amayler, of the same meaning. 1

It is also possible that the name refers to one who is employed in a profession which involves horses, as the Old English ambler means walker, and is a technical word for the slowest gait of a horse. 2 "The surname may mean ‘keeper of the stable’" 1

Their ancient estates were in Amblie, in Calvados in Normandy. 3

Early Origins of the Ample family

The surname Ample was first found in Yorkshire where Nicholas le Aumbleour was recorded in 1307. Alexander Ambler was a Freeman of York in 1474. London records show William le Amayler there in 1303 and Robert Ambeler in 1375. Later, Simon le Amelous was listed in Somerset in 1344. 1

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included Thomas le Amblur, but no county was provided. 4

"Ambler is an old Yorkshire name, now best represented in the West Riding, There were several of the name in Arnley about a century ago. William Ambler was mayor of Doucaster in 171, and one of the sheriffs of York in 1727 bore this name. In 1665, Captain Thomas Ambler gave £30 to the poor of Leeds. Ombler was the name of the mayor of Holderness, in the East Riding, in 1618, 1638, 1655, and 1821. The name occurred amongst the yeomen of East Hasterton in the reign of Edward VI. (D.); and going much further back we find Amblurs in the East Riding and in Lincolnshire in the reign of Edward I." 5

Early History of the Ample family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ample research. Another 122 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1100, 1166 and 1924 are included under the topic Early Ample History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ample Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Ample are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Ample include Ambler, Ambeller, Amblie, Anbler, Amble, Amblor and others.

Early Notables of the Ample family

More information is included under the topic Early Ample Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ample migration to the United States +

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Ample, or a variant listed above:

Ample Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Ample, who arrived in Georgia in 1742 6

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)