This interesting surname is a variant of Edgell, which is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name "Ecgwulf". The personal name is derived from the Old English "ecg", a sword and "wulf", a wolf, thus "sword-wolf"; Ecgwulf was a common Old English name. The name development since 1275 (see below) includes the following: William Eggel(l) (1278, Essex), Robert Eggolfe (1327, Worcestershire) and William Eggculf (1327, Worcestershire). The modern surname can be found as Edgell, Edgeller, Edgeler, Edgler and Egdell; Edgeller and Edgeler are more common in Surrey. Among the sample recordings in Surrey are the christening of Hanna, daughter of James Edgeller, on June 9th 1700 at Elstead, and the marriage of Ann Edgeller and James Jelly on October 1st 1760 at Bramley. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Eggolf, which was dated 1275, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.