Ellens History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

The ancient surname Ellens came from the given name Alan, meaning little rock. Patronymic surnames arose out of the vernacular and religious given name traditions. St. Alan was a Welsh and Breton saint and was very popular among the people of those two cultures.

Early Origins of the Ellens family

The surname Ellens was first found in Yorkshire where they held a family seat at Richmond, but following the pattern of many Norman and Breton families, junior branches of this distinguished name moved northward over the border into Scotland. They appeared to have settled in Dumbartonshire in Scotland. This is where we found the first records of the family. "Reginald filius Alani was a burgess of Aberdeen in 1317 and a few years later, another Ada filius Alani de Dunbretane witnessed a charter by Donald, earl of Lennox after 1334 and in the reign of Robert I the 20 pound land of Sproustoun was forfeited by John, Thomas, and William filii Alani. " 1

Further south in their native Yorkshire, Johannes Alynson and Robertus Alaynson were both listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. 2

Early History of the Ellens family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ellens research. Another 173 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1375, 1447, 1463, 1469, 1576, 1610, 1616, 1640, 1653 and 1656 are included under the topic Early Ellens History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ellens Spelling Variations

Since the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules, Breton surnames have many spelling variations. Latin and French, which were the official court languages, were also influential on the spelling of surnames. The spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules. Therefore, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England after the Norman Conquest, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. The name has been spelled Allanson, Alanson, Allansone, Alansone, Allansoune and many more.

Early Notables of the Ellens family

Notable of this family during the Middle Ages was Sir William Allanson (died 1656), an English merchant draper and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1653. He became a freeman of the...
Another 37 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Ellens Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ellens migration to the United States +

Early immigration records have shown some of the first of the name Ellens to arrive on North American shores were:

Ellens Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Hen Ellens, who landed in Virginia in 1663 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Ellens (post 1700) +

John Ellens, American politician, Candidate for Michigan State House of Representatives from Kent County 2nd District, 1932 4

The Ellens 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: Virtute et labore
Motto Translation: By valour and exertion.

Citations +

Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 12) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html