Ellwein History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Ellwein is one of the thousands of new names that the Norman Conquest of 1066 brought to England. It comes from the Old English personal names Alfwin, and Elwin, as well a collection of other names containing the elements oelf, which means elf, and wine, which means friend.

Etherlwine, Aethelwine or Ailwin (died 922), was a Saxon ealdorman (royal official) of East Anglia, fourth and youngest son of the ealdorman Aethelstan, called the Half-king. 1

Early Origins of the Ellwein family

The surname Ellwein was first found in Devon where they held a family seat as Lords of the manor of Alwinetone, later called Alwington. In the Domesday Book Survey of 1086 A.D. this village containing 120 sheep and houses was held by Hamelin from the Count of Mortain, from which the Alwins are conjecturally descended.

One of the first records of the family was Henry Fitz Ailwyn, Lord Mayor of London (1189-1211.)

Early History of the Ellwein family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ellwein research. Another 102 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1130, 1175, 1499 and 1564 are included under the topic Early Ellwein History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ellwein Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Alwin, Alwyn, Elwyn, Elwyn, Elvin, Elvins, Elvyn, Alvin, Allwin, Allwyn, Ellwyn, Ellwin and many more.

Early Notables of the Ellwein family

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

Ellwein migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Ellwein name or one of its variants:

Ellwein Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Heinrich Ellwein, aged 21, who landed in New York, NY in 1875 2
Carl Ellwein, aged 28, who settled in America, in 1893
Emilie Ellwein, aged 0, who landed in America, in 1893
Lydia Ellwein, aged 8, who immigrated to the United States, in 1893
Maria Ellwein, aged 12, who settled in America, in 1893
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Ellwein (post 1700) +

Richard Ellwein, American politician, Mayor of Mitchell, South Dakota, 1953-54 3
Andrew Ellwein, American politician, Member of South Dakota State Senate 9th District, 1939-40 3

Citations +

Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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 2015, October 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html