the origins of the eccles clan of england & scotland. started in 5th century a.d. wessex/sussex england.?

Question

I was informed that it started as above. Then the eccles migrated through the yorks of england, to the borders & berwick in scotland, across to dumphries in scotland, then "the lost eccles" may now be in lancashire england. There are a number of eccles scattered about the the uk, brit commonwealth countries, us, etc.

Answer 1

I wonder if there ever really is/was an "eccles clan", in the sense of one tribe or whatever. (Incidentally, to use the concept 'clan' referring to 5th century Britain is an anchronism.) "eccles" sounds like a word derived from the Greek "eklesia" = originally any place of gathering, later more specifically a (Christian) church, and its Latin derivative "ecclesia". The 5th-6th century British Celtic word for a church is "eglwys" (pronounced egg-loyss) in Welsh and "eglos", similarly derived.

So, without knowing, my hypothesis is that eccles names started to appear separately in various parts of Britain in the 5th century (or even the 4th) as Christians gained in numbers and influence, connected in meaning ('Christian', or 'person living by a church' perhaps) rather than in genealogy.

By the way, the SW Scottish town is spelt Dumfries.

Answer 2

I doubt anyone could prove an actual family connection to anyone living in the 5th century. By all means research the name, but maybe look into what the name actually means first, rather than trying to track down actual family movements.

It may be that the name appeared in a number of different regions for various reasons meaning that not all "eccles" are related.

Try to determine whether it is a Latin, Celtic or Anglo-Saxon name as well.