Ethan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The ancient roots of the Ethan family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Ethan comes from when the family lived on a farm by a river or a farm on an island. 1 The surname Ethan originally derived from the Old English word Eatun which referred to farm on a river or island. The surname Ethan is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. As a general rule, the greater the distance between an individual and their homeland, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, a person who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original village, while people who migrated to a different country were often known by the name of a region or country from which they came.

Early Origins of the Ethan family

The surname Ethan was first found in various townships named "Eaton," throughout Britain including those in Berkshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Salop, Herefordshire, Bedfordshire and more. Many of the villages and parishes date back to the Domesday Book of 1086 including: Castle Eaton, Wiltshire; Eaton, Norfolk; Eaton, Oxfordshire; Eaton Socon, Cambridgeshire and Eaton Bray in Bedfordshire. 1

One source claims that Cheshire is the original home to the family. "The Cheshire Eatons take their name from townships of the name in the county. The Eatons of Eaton, a very old and distinguished family, are probably the parent stock." 2

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 points to the earliest records of the family: Peter de Eton in Huntingdonshire; and Brian de Eton in Wiltshire. 3

Early History of the Ethan family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ethan research. Another 70 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1590, 1596, 1610, 1633, 1634, 1658, 1665, 1674, 1684 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Ethan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ethan Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Ethan has appeared include Eaton, Eton, Eaten and others.

Early Notables of the Ethan family

Notables of the family at this time include Samuel Eaton (ca.1596-1665), an English independent divine; Theophilus Eaton (c.1590-1658), a merchant, farmer, and Puritan colonial leader who was the co-founder and first governor of New Haven Colony, Connecticut; Nathaniel Eaton (1610-1674) English settler Massachusetts Bay Colony (c. 1634), the first schoolmaster of Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and...
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Ethan Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Ethan family to Ireland

Some of the Ethan family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 82 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Ethan family

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Ethan arrived in North America very early: Alexander Eaton who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1651; Eliza Eaton settled in Pennsylvania in 1682; Francis Eaton, his wife Sarah, and son Samuel, arrived on the ".

Contemporary Notables of the name Ethan (post 1700) +

Charles Ethan Porter (1847-1923), American still life painter
Charles Ethan Kenning (b. 1943), American singer, songwriter and musician, known by his stage name George Edwards, leader of the 1960s acid rock band, H. P. Lovecraft
Jeremy Ethan Sagan (b. 1960), American computer programmer and founder of Sagan Technology, son of Carl Sagan
Matthew Ethan Jago (b. 1987), South African silver and bronze medalist judoka from Johannesburg
Thomas Ethan Wayman (b. 1945), Canadian poet and academic
Otto Ethan Greeley (b. 1853), American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Minnesota, 1908 4
Ethan Allen Hitchcock Shepley (1896-1975), American academic, Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis from 1953 to 1961
Ethan David Loch (b. 2004), Scottish blind pianist and composer, a competitor in the BBC Young Musician 2022 competition where he was a finalist
Ethan Boyes (1978-2023), American cyclist born in Anchorage, Alaska, holder of a national record for the "flying start"
Ethan Kilburn (b. 2001), English actor from Sutton Coldfield, known for Daytimers (2016), Savage Mode and Protect Us (2015)

The Ethan 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: Vincit omnia veritas
Motto Translation: Truth conquers all things.

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 11) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html