Possible origins of the Eggleton surname

There are many opinions regarding the true origin of the Eagleson name. The actual spelling has varied throughout the years and has been recorded as Eggleton, Eagleton, Eggleston,  Egleton and other spellings. I can trace the spelling changes within my own family from Eggleton to Eagleson within recent generations.

Today the name would be most commonly recorded as Eagleson in Northern Ireland but in the Republic of Ireland it would be more common as Eagleton. In my opinion the original spelling was more like Eggleton or Egleton with most present day variations deriving from that through the years.

I have found links with Norway with one Eggleton family in Norfolk and who knows in the distant past the Eggleton name may well have originated there. The possibility of links to Scandinavian or Icelandic origins have also been written about elsewhere. The name appears to be much more prevalent in the eastern part of England especially in places like London, Norfolk and Yorkshire. This again might suggest a links to Norway, Denmark or the Netherlands.

One of the more official versions suggests the name to be derived from the English surname of Eagleston. This would have described where a man once lived and has it’s source in either a chapelry in County Durham or Eagleston Abbey in Yorkshire. A person would take this name when moving away from that area and would become known as John of Eagleston for example.

The name dates back to the twelfth century when one Roger de Egleston was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Durham in the year 1196. Further references refer to Ralph de Egliston in Lancashire in 1260, the marriage of Margery Eggleston London in 1581. Among the first settlers of New England was Bigot Eggleston of Dorchester. His ancestors are reported to still live in Connecticut and New Haven.