Ingle
A surname that likely began as a Scandinavian personal name, though some bearers may come from place-names built on that name.
The #3,409 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 29,413 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The main explanation in older surname books is that Ingle comes from an ancient Scandinavian personal name, often linked to Ing, the name of a Germanic god, or to names such as Ingald. In that view, the surname originally meant a descendant or associate of someone with that name. Some writers also connect it to local place-names like Ingleby or Ingleton, so a few families may have taken the name from where they lived rather than directly from a personal name.
History
Older reference works place Ingle among surnames found especially in parts of England with strong Scandinavian settlement. The name appears in medieval records in several forms, and related place-names helped keep the element in use across northern and eastern England. Because the evidence in the dictionaries is brief and occasionally speculative, the surname may have more than one local origin in practice.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Several English place-names beginning with Ingle- or Ingold- preserve the same old personal-name element that underlies the surname.
From the historical record
“den. — Local, ' of Ingleden.' i.e. Ihe dene or dean (valley) of Ingle, the Grst settler. I cannot find the place. V. Ingold and Ingle. Robeit de locledenE, en. Devon, layj. A.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances