This interesting name has its origins in either of two Germanic personal names which were introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. The first of these is the name "Eng(u)erran", in its Norman form which is composed of the ethnic name, "Engil", a tribal name meaning "the Angles", the tribe which invaded Eastern and Northern Britain in the 5th Century and 6th Century, and gave their name to "England", with "hraban", meaning "raven". The second name that generated the modern surname "Ingram" was "Ingerran", composed of the Germanic elements "Ing", a divine name meaning a God or folk hero, with "hraban", raven, as before. The modern surname can be found recorded as Ingram, Ingrem, and the patronymic form Ingrams. One Edward Ingram was an early settler in America, being listed as resident in New England in 1635. Over ten Coat of Arms have been granted to the family; the one most often associated with them being an ermine shield with three gold escallops on a red fesse. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Engelram, which was dated 1132, in the "Charters of the Abbey of Rievaulx", Yorkshire, during the reign of King Henry 1, known as "The Lion of Justice", 1100 - 1135. 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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