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Help[Surname] Re: The name Ella or Aella
in reply to a message by Mark Ella-Ford
The surname Ella is much more common than you think as you can see at http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=ella.
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Replies
First, as Marc has pointed out, this name is extant and not too rare.
Second, although I have not been able to learn the meaning of this name, I doubt that it derives from the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Aella.
Ella is a name that is extant in my home town (Hull, Yorkshire), and I put together the following notes to post elsewhere.
ELLA Not much to say about this name, another that has avoided the attention of the experts. Perhaps these notes will attract the attention of the better informed.
It appears to be a Yorkshire name, though not a common one. I thought at first that it might derive from two linked place names of the Hull area, Kirkella and Westella. However, though 'kirk' and 'west' are later additions "Ella" alone is not recorded. Mediaeval 13th century spellings suggest that a version like Elveley or Elfley was then in use. "Kirkelley" is shown on Speed's map of 1601.
So the surname resists explanation.
A couple of Hull notices -
John Ella, son of Richard Ella, of Sculcoates, fishmonger, was apprenticed to Thomas Blanch, Humber pilot, 10th January 1812.
William Ella, "a poor boy" apparently of Welton Parish, aged 14, was apprenticed as a house servant and gardener to John Carrick, esquire, burgess, 22nd December 1815.
Both notices from the Hull Register of Apprentices (1809-20), in the city archives.
Second, although I have not been able to learn the meaning of this name, I doubt that it derives from the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Aella.
Ella is a name that is extant in my home town (Hull, Yorkshire), and I put together the following notes to post elsewhere.
ELLA Not much to say about this name, another that has avoided the attention of the experts. Perhaps these notes will attract the attention of the better informed.
It appears to be a Yorkshire name, though not a common one. I thought at first that it might derive from two linked place names of the Hull area, Kirkella and Westella. However, though 'kirk' and 'west' are later additions "Ella" alone is not recorded. Mediaeval 13th century spellings suggest that a version like Elveley or Elfley was then in use. "Kirkelley" is shown on Speed's map of 1601.
So the surname resists explanation.
A couple of Hull notices -
John Ella, son of Richard Ella, of Sculcoates, fishmonger, was apprenticed to Thomas Blanch, Humber pilot, 10th January 1812.
William Ella, "a poor boy" apparently of Welton Parish, aged 14, was apprenticed as a house servant and gardener to John Carrick, esquire, burgess, 22nd December 1815.
Both notices from the Hull Register of Apprentices (1809-20), in the city archives.
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You'll find Ella, Kirk and West in Ekwall and Mills, for instance. Its origin is purported to be Ælfanlēah 'woodland clearing (lēah) of a man called Ælf(a).
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A-HA! I have both of those works but it never occurred to me to look under "Ella" as both names are written as one word. Thanks, Marc.
On the OE personal name Aella/Ella; East Yorkshire was a kingdom in the early Middle Ages, called Deira. One king of Deira was named Ella (d.558), and I've seen Kirkella explained as the "church of (King) Ella". Clearly not correct.
On the OE personal name Aella/Ella; East Yorkshire was a kingdom in the early Middle Ages, called Deira. One king of Deira was named Ella (d.558), and I've seen Kirkella explained as the "church of (King) Ella". Clearly not correct.
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I don't know about the one-word spellings. Ekwall and Mills both write these placenames as two words and so does the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk_Ella.
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You're right. I've now looked at several local maps and all have Kirk Ella and West Ella. Locally, it seems to me, the two words tend to be written as one. My son tells me he daily passes a signpost pointing the way to "Kirkella". The road map covering the Kirk Ella area shows a West Ella Road with a Westella Way running parallel to it.
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