This name is of English and Scottish locational origin from any of several places so called, for example, Eccles in Lancashire, Norfolk and Kent, also in Berwickshire and Dumfriesshire. Eccles in Kent, recorded as Aiglessa in the Domesday Book of 1086, derives its name from the Olde English pre 7th Century "aec-laes" meaning "oak pasture". All the others are named with the British element "ecles" meaning a church, ultimately from the Greek "ekklesia", a gathering or assembly. The surname is first recorded in Scotland in the latter half of the 12th Century, (see below). The first recorded spelling of the name in England is that of Warin de Eccles, in the Kent Pipe Rolls of 1212. The modern surname has a number of variant forms, ranging from Eccles and ecles to Eckels and Eckles. The marriage of Margaret Eckels and Rychard England was recorded at Hooton Pagnell in Yorkshire on June 29th 1589. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam de (of) Eccles, witnessed Charter in Melrose, which was dated circa 1170, in the "Catalogue of ancient Scottish Seals", during the reign of King William, known as "The Lion of Scotland", 1165 - 1214. 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.

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