Chapter 1: Eggleton Origins

The names Eggleton, Egleton and Eagleton are synonymous and were gernerally interchangeable until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Robert de Egelton from Leicestershire is the first recorded bearer of the name. He was a Freeman of Leicestershire in 1225. Simon de Egilton was alive in 1255, and Roger de Egilton in 1297. The aforementioned individuals attest to the origins of the surname as relating to the place name Eg(g)leton. There are two places by this name in England, one in Rutland, the other in Herefordshire. The Leicestershire occurrence of the earliest know use of the name and the subsequent distribution of the name may indicate that all E(a)g(g)ltons share a common Rutland based ancestry.

The earliest reference to the place Egleton, in Rutland, is in 1218 when it was named as Egoluestun; Ecgwulf’s (an Old English personal name) farmstead.

The name has always been relatively rare. In 1881 there were 1183 Eggletons, 236 Egletons and 365 Eagletons, of all ages, in the United Kingdom. The majority of the Eggletons occurred in the South and South-east of England, with the highest absolute and relative numbers in Buckinghamshire.

In 2000 there just over 1800 adult Eggletons in the UK. The highest absolute numbers occurred in Berkshire. Rutland had none!

2000
Eggleton adults, absolute numbers