Onken History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Onken family

The surname Onken was first found in Buckinghamshire at Olney, a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes. The place dates back to 979 where it was listed as Ollanege. By the time of the Domesday Book, the place name had evolved to Olnei 1 which meant "island, or dry ground in a marsh, of a man called Olla," derived from the Old English personal name + eg. 2

On November 4th, 1643, Olney was the site of the Battle of Olney Bridge, a skirmish in the First English Civil War. The town has a long history as a lace-making centre, but is best known as the place where the Olney Hymns were written.

John Newton (1725-1807), author of the hymn Amazing Grace was curate of Olney. Some of the family were found in Weston-Underwood in early times. "The church [of Weston-Underwood] is a neat structure, built by Sir John Olney in the 14th century." 3

Early History of the Onken family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Onken research. Another 175 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1272, 1600, 1635, 1647, 1682, 1697, 1698, 1703, 1704, 1726, 1729, 1747, 1771, 1785, 1800, 1802, 1803, 1814 and 1877 are included under the topic Early Onken History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Onken Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Olney, Onley, Oneley, Ongley and others.

Early Notables of the Onken family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Thomas Olney (ca. 1600-1682), English settler to America in 1635 aboard the ship "planter," an early minister at the First Baptist Church in America and co-founder of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.Sir Samuel Ongley (1647-1726), of Old Warden, Bedfordshire and Mincing Lane, London, was an English politician. Born in Maidstone, Kent, he became a London merchant. In 1698 he purchased the Old Warden Estate from Paulet St John, Earl of Bolingbroke. He was High Sheriff of Bedfordshire (1703-1704.) Samuel Ongley (1697-1747), of Old Warden, Bedfordshire, was...
Another 94 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Onken Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Onken migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Onken Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Mr. Herm. Onken, (Omken) aged 20, German who arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1846 aboard the ship "Franziska"
Mr. Hein. Onken, (Omken), German who arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1846 aboard the ship "Franziska"
Greetje Onken, aged 52, who arrived in New York, NY in 1857 4
Seedo Onken, who landed in Iroquois County, Illinois in 1886 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Onken (post 1700) +

Anne Onken (b. 1977), German radio presenter and comedian

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, 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)