Addington
A habitational surname from English places named Addington, meaning “the settlement of Eadda’s people.”
The #6,790 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 62,147 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Addington is an English habitational surname taken from one of several places called Addington, especially in Kent, Surrey, and Northamptonshire. The place-name is generally explained from an Old English personal name such as Eadda plus -ing- indicating “people of” or “descendants of,” and tūn, meaning “farmstead, village, settlement.” So the literal sense is roughly “Eadda’s settlement” or “the settlement of Eadda’s people.”
History
The surname appears in medieval records as people moved away from those places and were identified by their home village. Later bearers are associated with the English gentry and political life, including the Addington family of Surrey and Henry Addington, who became Viscount Sidmouth. The name has remained uncommon but stable in England and later in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some early references link the Surrey Addington family with the manor of Addington and its medieval landholding history.
From the historical record
“Salop Addington. A loc. n., Kent, Northants., Surrey. De Abernon, 1086 Addison. See Addy Addley. See Adderley”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)