Show ContentsInkle History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Inkle surname is an English name with Norse roots, deriving from either of two Old Norse personal names "Ingjaldr," or from "Ingólfr" ‘Ing's wolf’ (Ing was an ancient Germanic fertility god). Some instances of this name in Britain are thought to have evolved from the place name Ingol, in Lancashire, which is named from the Old English personal name Inga with the Old English word "holh," meaning a "hollow," or "depression." Another source claims the name was derived from "a Scandinavian personal name, retained in the designations of Ingleby, Inglesham, Ingleton, Ingoldsthorpe, Ingoldsby, and other parishes and places, lying chiefly in what are called the Danish counties. The Domesday form is Ingaldus. " 1

Early Origins of the Inkle family

The surname Inkle was first found in Suffolk at Bury St. Edmunds where Ingold was recorded c. 1095. The Latin form Ingoldus was recorded in Huntingdonshire (1114-1130.) 2

Early Somerset or Huntingdonshire was where some the first recordings of the family were listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, specifically Edmund Ingold, in Somerset and Cecilia de Ingolde in Huntingdonshire. 3

The Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379 included entries for Alicia Ingle; Johannes Ingill; Robertus Ingill; Willelmus Ingill; and Agnes Ingilson. 3

Early History of the Inkle family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Inkle research. Another 62 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Inkle History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Inkle Spelling Variations

Translation and spelling were non-standardized practices in the Middle Ages, so scribes had only their ears to rely on. This was a practice of extremely limited efficiency, and spelling variations in names, even within a single document, were the result. Over the years, Inkle has appeared Ingle, Ingall, Ingalls, Ingal, Ingals, Ingull, Ingulls, Inggall, Inggalls, Ingold, Ingolds, Ingles, Ingoll, Ingolls, Ingill and many more.

Early Notables of the Inkle family

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


United States Inkle migration to the United States +

The fertile east coast of what would become US and Canada was soon dotted with the farms of Scottish settlers. Some of them remained faithful to the crown and called themselves United Empire Loyalists, while others had the chance to pay back their old oppressors in the American War of Independence. That brave spirit lives on today in the highland games that dot North America in the summer. Passenger and immigration lists indicate that members of the Inkle family came to North America quite early:

Inkle Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Henry Inkle, who arrived in Frederick County, Maryland in 1767 4


  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  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)
  4. 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)


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