Ewells

This unusual and interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a nickname for someone who was born on Christmas Day or had some other connection with this time of year, deriving from the Middle English "yule", a development of the Olde English pre 7th Century "geol", meaning Christmastide. This was originally the name of a pagan midwinter festival, which was later appropriated by the Christian Church for celebration of the birth of Christ. The suffix "s" denotes son of. Variations in the spelling of the surname include Youles, Youels, Ewols, Ewells, and Euels. London Church Records list the marriage of William Ewles to Elizabeth Cook on December 8th 1636 at St. Mary Somerset, and the christening of Nicholas, son of Moses and Elizabeth Ewells, on March 13th 1663 at St. Andrew's, Holborn. A Coat of Arms granted to the family is silver, on a black fess between two crescents in chief, and a red saltire couped in base, a gold garb. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Yol, which was dated 1199, in the "Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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.