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Help[Surname] Re: The name Ella or Aella
in reply to a message by Jim Young
You'll find Ella, Kirk and West in Ekwall and Mills, for instance. Its origin is purported to be Ælfanlēah 'woodland clearing (lēah) of a man called Ælf(a).
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A-HA! I have both of those works but it never occurred to me to look under "Ella" as both names are written as one word. Thanks, Marc.
On the OE personal name Aella/Ella; East Yorkshire was a kingdom in the early Middle Ages, called Deira. One king of Deira was named Ella (d.558), and I've seen Kirkella explained as the "church of (King) Ella". Clearly not correct.
On the OE personal name Aella/Ella; East Yorkshire was a kingdom in the early Middle Ages, called Deira. One king of Deira was named Ella (d.558), and I've seen Kirkella explained as the "church of (King) Ella". Clearly not correct.
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I don't know about the one-word spellings. Ekwall and Mills both write these placenames as two words and so does the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk_Ella.
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You're right. I've now looked at several local maps and all have Kirk Ella and West Ella. Locally, it seems to me, the two words tend to be written as one. My son tells me he daily passes a signpost pointing the way to "Kirkella". The road map covering the Kirk Ella area shows a West Ella Road with a Westella Way running parallel to it.
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