Show ContentsEcherley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Anglo-Saxon name Echerley comes from when the family resided in Buckinghamshire. The surname Echerley derives from the Old English word Aker-leah, which means "acre meadow owner." [1]

Early Origins of the Echerley family

The surname Echerley was first found in Buckinghamshire, where they held a family seat from ancient times. The name literally mane "dweller at the Acre-Lea, i.e., a common field divided into plots of various sizes. [Middle English aker, Old English aecer, a division of land +M.E. ley, Old English leah, a lea, field]." [2]

Early History of the Echerley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Echerley research. Another 245 words (18 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1273, 1300, 1500, 1610, 1769, 1665, 1740, 1685, 1691, 1721 and 1725 are included under the topic Early Echerley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Echerley 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. Echerley has been recorded under many different variations, including Ackerly, Ackerley, Acerly, Akerley, Akeley, Acle, Ackle, Acley, Acly and many more.

Early Notables of the Echerley family (pre 1700)

Distinguished members of the family include Roger Acherley (1665?-1740), Welsh lawyer, constitutional writer, and politician, the son and heir of John Acherley of Stanwardine, or Stottesden, Shropshire, where he was the representative of a long-established family. Roger was admitted a student of the Inner Temple on 6 March 1685, and called to the bar on 24 May 1691. For some years Acherley was engaged in disputing the will of Thomas Vernon, who died in 1721, by...
Another 76 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Echerley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Echerley 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 Echerley or a variant listed above: Henry Ackerly, who sailed to New Haven, Connecticut in 1640. Nicholas Ackley sailed to Connecticut in 1655; and Joseph Ackerly to Philadelphia in 1865. Henry Akerly arrived in New Haven, Conn in 1640. Robert Akerly arrived in Rhode Island in 1651..



  1. Surnames from the U.S.A. and Canada. Family Name Researchers, Inc., Toronto, 1975.
  2. Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print


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