my villagers keep running away!

so i’ve been playing in creative mode. trying to build a whole kingdom as i’m sure we’ve all done at some point in this game. i’m trying to make surrounding cities by my castles as “towns folk” so i’ve been trying to spawn villagers from that egg villager spawner. i’ve made plenty of houses and there are plenty of beds, lots of flowers, a well, and torches. the villagers keep running away. it’s almost like they’re afraid of me or hate me. as soon as i spawn them they just go toward the ocean, don’t stay in the houses i’ve made or even in the city areas. i’ve tried trading with a few and they had hearts all around them but still ended up weirdly huddled under a tree and won’t move. i read somewhere that you have a reputation and if you’ve killed a lot of villagers in the past then the new ones you spawn will know and not like you... i have no idea if that’s true or not, but in any case, can someone please tell me what i’m doing wrong!!!