Show ContentsEnge History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Enge family

The surname Enge was first found in Kent where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. But Saxon surnames survived and the family name was first referenced in the 13th century when they held estates in that county.

Early History of the Enge family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Enge research. Another 175 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1455, 1484, 1487, 1510, 1548 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Enge History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Enge Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Enge family name include Engham, Edingham, Edenham, Ednam, Edinham, Engeham, Engleham, Englam, Englum, Englem, Edenem and many more.

Early Notables of the Enge family

Distinguished members of the family include

  • the Engeham family of Kent

Migration of the Enge family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Enge surname or a spelling variation of the name include: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands..


Contemporary Notables of the name Enge (post 1700) +

  • Per Kristian Enge (1953-2018), Norwegian-American engineer, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital Professor of Engineering at Stanford
  • Charles Enge (1869-1945), American Republican politician, Member of Wisconsin State Assembly from Sauk County, 1939-40 1

Bismarck
  • Herbert Enge (d. 1941), German Mechanikersgefreiter who served aboard the German Battleship Bismarck during World War II when it was sunk heading to France; he died in the sinking 2


  1. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 10) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
  2. Bismarck & Tirpitz Class - Crew List Bismarck. (Retrieved 2018, February 06). Retrieved from https://www.bismarck-class.dk/bismarck/crew/bismarck_crew.html#crew_details


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