Recorded in many forms including Engall, Engel, Engle, Ingall, Ingalls, Ingle, Inglis, Ingold, Hingle and others, this is an Anglo-Scottish surname but one arguably of 'Viking' origins. It certainly derives from the pre 7th century Old Norse personal name 'Inqialdr', composed of the elements "Ing" which has the robust meaning of a swelling, and was the name of a Norse god associated with fertility, and "gialdr", a tribute; hence, "Ing's tribute". The Anglo-Scandinavian forms of the name were Ingald and Ingold, the latter appearing without surname in the Domesday Book of 1086 for Yorkshire. This name became confused with the similar Ingolfr, the second element, in this case, being "ulfr", meaning wolf. The forms Ingulf and Ingolf are also recorded in Domesday Book. It is said that the majority of surnames arise from Ingioldr, and early examples of the recordings in surviving rolls and registers include Edmund Ingold in the Hundred Rolls of landowners of Suffolk, and that of Emma Ingel in the same rolls, but for Huntingdon also in 1272. This also shows how women in medieval times held land in their own right, as is confirmed by the recording of Alicia Ingle in the Poll Tax returns of Yorkshire in 1379. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the 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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