Ingraham
An English surname that began as a patronymic from the old personal name Ingram or Ingelram.
The #5,566 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 49,415 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ingraham is a spelling variant of Ingram, ultimately from the medieval personal name Ingram or Ingelram. That name is usually explained as a compound with the first element Ingel- or Engel-, a form associated with Old Norse or Old English names, and the second element -ram/-ramm, from a Germanic word meaning 'raven' or, in some older explanations, linked by folk etymology to 'pure' or 'angel.' In practical terms, the surname means 'descendant of Ingram' rather than carrying a literal modern-English meaning.
History
The name is well established in England and was carried to North America early, where the spelling Ingraham became common. Nineteenth-century surname writers treated it as a variant of Ingram and noted its American form settling especially into Ingraham. Modern bearers include several notable Americans, which helped the spelling remain visible in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source noted that in America the name had “settled down” into the spelling Ingraham.
From the historical record
“pasture. INGRAHAM or INGEAM. (Ger.) Camden derives this name from Engelramus, from Engel, Saxon, angel, and rein, purity. Pure as an angel. INNIS or INNES. The same as Ennis (which see). This family is of great antiquity in Scotland, and derives its sur- name from the lands of Innis, a word supposed to be de- rived…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names