Ewins History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland
England

The Hebrides islands and the west coast of Scotland are the ancestral home of the Ewins family. Their name comes from the Gaelic personal name Eógann, which comes from the Latin name, Eugenius, which means well born. Ewins is a patronymic surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. Many patronyms were formed when a son used his father's personal name as a surname, while others came from the personal names of famous religious and secular figures. The Ewins family was established in Scotland, well before the Norman Conquest of England, in 1066.

Euing appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 and may have been derived from Eawa's son. A Eawa was brother of Penda, king of Mercia. 1 However, another source claims the name was a "descendant of Ewen (warrior)." 2

And yet another source claims the name "goes back to the Greek eugenes (wellborn.)" 3

Early Origins of the Ewins family

The surname Ewins was first found in Argyllshire (Gaelic erra Ghaidheal), the region of western Scotland corresponding roughly with the ancient Kingdom of Dál Riata, in the Strathclyde region of Scotland, now part of the Council Area of Argyll and Bute, where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D. The earliest recorded bearer of the name was Dovenaldus Ewain, documented in 1164.

Early History of the Ewins family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ewins research. Another 136 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1164, 1178, 1546, 1555, 1598, 1611, 1621, 1633, 1636, 1664, 1678, 1681, 1687, 1717 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Ewins History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ewins Spelling Variations

Medieval translation of Gaelic names could not be referred to as an accurate process. Spelling was not yet standardized, and names in documents from that era are riddled with spelling variations. Ewins has been written as Ewing, Ewin, Ewen, Ewans, Ewens, Eugene, Ewan and many more.

Early Notables of the Ewins family

Another 40 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Ewins Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Ewins family to Ireland

Some of the Ewins family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 60 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ewins migration to the United States +

Ancestors of many of the Dalriadan families who crossed the Atlantic still live along the east coast of the United States and Canada. Some Scottish settlers arrived in Canada during the American War of Independence as United Empire Loyalists, while others stayed south to fight for a new nation. The descendants of Scottish settlers in both countries began to rediscover their heritage in the 19th and 20th centuries through Clan societies and highland games. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families has revealed a number of immigrants bearing the name Ewins or a variant listed above:

Ewins Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Clement Ewins, who arrived in Virginia in 1618 4
John Ewins, who arrived in Virginia in 1622 4
John, Robert, and Elizabeth Ewins, who settled in Virginia in 1623
Elnor Ewins, who landed in Virginia in 1665 4

Ewins migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Ewins Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. George Ewins, English convict who was convicted in Devon, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Eden" on 27th August 1836, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Ewins (post 1700) +

Nelljane Ewins, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from California, 1956 6
David John Ewins FRS FREng (1942-2023), British mechanical engineer, Director of the Bristol Laboratory for Advanced Dynamics Engineering (BLADE) at University of Bristol from 2007 to 2015
Arthur James Ewins (1882-1957), English chemist

The Ewins 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: Audaciter
Motto Translation: Boldly

Citations +

Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 20th October 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eden
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 19) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html