Show ContentsAigles History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Aigles Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Etymology of Aigles

What does the name Aigles mean?

The history of the name Aigles goes back, perhaps as far as 1066, when the Norman Conquest of England occurred. Soon after this event, the name would have been given to a person exhibiting characteristics associated with the eagle, such as a lordly or impressive nature, or sharp-eyed vision. The name may also be of toponymic origin and derive from either of two place-names Eagle, in Lincolnshire, 1 or L'Aigle, in Normandy. 2

Another source claims the name is "metaphorically applied to a person of ambitious or soaring disposition." 3

Early Origins of the Aigles family

The surname Aigles was first found in Lincolnshire where the name dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 as Aclei or Aycle. 4 Literally the place name means "wood where oak trees grow." 5

However, we must look to Yorkshire to find one of the first record in early rolls, that of Gilbertus de Aquila who was listed there in the Pipe Rolls of 1196. Richer del Egle was found in the Curia Regis Rolls for Northumberland in 1210 and a few years later, Ralph Egle was listed in the Pipe Rolls for Yorkshire in 1230. 6

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 record: William Egle, Cambridgeshire; Custance Egke, Cambridgeshire; and Gilbert de la Hegle, Sussex. 7

In Scotland, the family claim descent from the "Norman family of L'Aigle. Matilda de Aquila, 1129, [was] widow of Robert Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland." 8

Early History of the Aigles family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Aigles research. Another 102 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1129 and 1230 are included under the topic Early Aigles History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Aigles Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was institutionalized a couple of hundred years back, spelling varieties of names were a typical event. Components of Latin, Norman French and different dialects ended up noticeably fused into English all through the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the proficient. The varieties of the surname Aigles include Eagle, Eagles, Hegel, Hegell, Aigle, Eagel, Ligle and others.

Early Notables of the Aigles family

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

Migration of the Aigles family

In England at this time, the uncertainty of the political and religious environment of the time caused many families to board ships for distant British colonies in the hopes of finding land and opportunity, and escaping persecution. The voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, though, and many arrived in North America sick, starved, and destitute. Those who did make it, however, were greeted with greater opportunities and freedoms that they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Early immigration records have shown some of the first Aigless to arrive on North American shores: John Eagle who settled in Maryland in 1736; Edward Eagle, who settled in New England in 1763; George Eagle, who settled in Virginia in 1635; Katherine Eagle, who settled in Virginia in 1663.
  1. Barber, Henry, British Family Names London: Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, 1894. Print.
  2. The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
  3. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  4. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  5. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  6. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  7. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  8. 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)

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