Origin of the Name Ingram
The ancient history of the name
Ingram was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. Meaning 'the son of Ingram', the name Ingram is a baptismal name of great antiquity. Variants of this name include Ingham, Ingraham and Ingrame. This name is of Anglo-Saxon descent spreading to Ireland , Scotland , and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout these countries. Examples of such are a Sibil Ingelram, from Huntingdonshire, who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls' in 1273, and a Willelmus Ingram who was recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1379.
Names were recorded in these ancient documents to make it easier for their overlords to collect taxes and to keep records of the population at any given time. When the overlords acquired land by either force or gifts from their rulers, they created charters of ownership for themselves and their vassals. It was by creating, maintaining and updating these reference books that they were able to maintain their authority and enforce laws.
In Ireland this name and its variants were introduced into Limerick and then into Ulster by settlers from England and Scotland , especially during the seventeenth century.
The Ingram coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Ingram descendants.