Ogle
An English surname tied to Northumberland, likely from a place-name and an older personal name behind it.
The #2,524 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 21,509 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is traditionally linked to the lordship and village of Ogle in Northumberland. Older writers also suggested that the place-name may preserve an early personal name of Anglo-Saxon or Danish origin, rather than simply describing a hill or topographic feature. Related surnames such as Ogilby, Ogilvie, Oglesby, and Oglethorpe were also explained from this same northern name.
History
The name appears in records from the 12th century and was borne by an extinct peerage family of some standing. Nineteenth-century surname scholars treated Ogle as both a place-based surname and as an older personal name used in compounds. It also spread into several related surnames in Britain, especially in northern and Scottish forms.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some early writers explicitly argued that Ogle was not a simple hill-name, but a place-name tied to an older personal name.
From the historical record
“Soc. Antiq. Normaudie, 1825. OGLE. The extinct peerage family (from whom springs the existing baronet), rose to emineuce in the twelfth century, and derived their surname from the lordship of Oggil, CO. Northumberland ; but Ogle appears also to be an A-Sax. or Danish personal name, as it occurs, in composition with…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom