# Eccles (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/eccles/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 3,209 |
| US rank (2010) | 10,036 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 96,212 people |
| Change since 2000 | +10% (2,916 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɛkəlz/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Middle English Eccles, from Old English *Eccles, borrowed from pre-Proto-Brythonic *eglēs (“church”), whence Proto-Brythonic *egluɨs. The sound change *ē > *uɨ is regular in Proto-Brythonic, but had evidently not yet occurred when place-name instances of *eglēs in the north were being borrowed into Old English; Jackson (1953) dates this change to the late 7th century. *g > *k is regular assuming borrowing into Old English, which did not have intervocalic /g/ except after a nasal. A number of toponyms in northern Britain are composed of Eccles plus a term of English origin, e.g. Eccleston (+ -ton), Eccleshill (+ hill). Doublet of ecclesia.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Eccles in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 83% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 10% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.8% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.9% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 2.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Eccles in Australia, the United States, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom.

## People named Eccles

- John Carew Eccles, Australian neurophysiologist (1903–1997)
- Marriner Stoddard Eccles, American economist and banker (1890–1977)
- John Eccles, British composer
- Josh Eccles, association football player (born 2000)

## Similar surnames

Echols, Eckles, Eccleston, Eckels, Eggleston, Eslick, Eagleson.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.