Eeten History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Eeten is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from a family once having lived on a farm by a river or a farm on an island. 1 The surname Eeten originally derived from the Old English word Eatun which referred to farm on a river or island. The surname Eeten is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. As a general rule, the greater the distance between an individual and their homeland, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, a person who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original village, while people who migrated to a different country were often known by the name of a region or country from which they came.

Early Origins of the Eeten family

The surname Eeten was first found in various townships named "Eaton," throughout Britain including those in Berkshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Salop, Herefordshire, Bedfordshire and more. Many of the villages and parishes date back to the Domesday Book of 1086 including: Castle Eaton, Wiltshire; Eaton, Norfolk; Eaton, Oxfordshire; Eaton Socon, Cambridgeshire and Eaton Bray in Bedfordshire. 1

One source claims that Cheshire is the original home to the family. "The Cheshire Eatons take their name from townships of the name in the county. The Eatons of Eaton, a very old and distinguished family, are probably the parent stock." 2

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 points to the earliest records of the family: Peter de Eton in Huntingdonshire; and Brian de Eton in Wiltshire. 3

Early History of the Eeten family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Eeten research. Another 70 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1590, 1596, 1610, 1633, 1634, 1658, 1665, 1674, 1684 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Eeten History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Eeten Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Eeten has been recorded under many different variations, including Eaton, Eton, Eaten and others.

Early Notables of the Eeten family

Notables of the family at this time include Samuel Eaton (ca.1596-1665), an English independent divine; Theophilus Eaton (c.1590-1658), a merchant, farmer, and Puritan colonial leader who was the co-founder and first governor of New Haven Colony, Connecticut; Nathaniel Eaton (1610-1674) English settler Massachusetts Bay Colony (c. 1634), the first schoolmaster of Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and...
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Eeten Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Eeten family to Ireland

Some of the Eeten family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 82 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Eeten family

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Eeten or a variant listed above: Alexander Eaton who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1651; Eliza Eaton settled in Pennsylvania in 1682; Francis Eaton, his wife Sarah, and son Samuel, arrived on the ".

The Eeten Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Vincit omnia veritas
Motto Translation: Truth conquers all things.

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)