Inglefield

This interesting and unusual surname is a variant of Englefield, which is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is locational from a place so called in Berkshire, or from Englefield Green in Surrey. The placenames are derived from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name "Ingweald", composed of the elements "Ing", the name of a minor Norse god associated with fertility; the name may be from a Germanic root meaning swelling, protuberance, and the Old English "weald", rule. The second element is derived from the Old English "feld", pasture, open land, the placenames mean "Ingweald's open land", or "Ingweald's pasture". The placename in Surrey was first recorded as "Hingefelda" in the Saxon Chartularies of 967. The modern surname can be found as Englefield, Inglefield, Ingerfield and Eingerfield. Among the recordings in London are the marriage of Edward Ingarfield and Ann Coats on July 3rd 1791 at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster and the christening of David, son of Michael and Mary Ingarfield, on May 15th 1810 at St. Mary's, St. Marylebone. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hansculfde Englefield (marriage), which was dated 1079, in Englefield, Berkshire, during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.