Eagle Family History

English: nickname from Middle English egle ‘eagle’ (Old French aigle from Latin aquila). English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Laigle in Orne France, the name of which ostensibly means ‘the eagle’, although it is possible that the recorded forms result from the operation of early folk etymology on some unknown original.

Matilda de Aquila is recorded in 1129 as the widow of Robert Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland. Americanized form (translation into English) of various European surnames meaning ‘eagle’, for example, German and Jewish Adler, Polish and Jewish Orzeł (see Orzel), Slovenian Orel.

Native American: translation into English (and shortening) of a personal name based on a word such as Lakota Sioux waŋbli, meaning ‘eagle’. The great cultural significance of the eagle to Native Americans is reflected in their traditional personal names, many of which were adopted as surnames (translated into English), e.g. Eagle Man (see Eagleman), Red Eagle (see Redeagle), and White Eagle (see Whiteeagle).