Anderton
A surname with two local origins: most often from Lancashire place-names, but in Cornwall also from a Cornish name meaning “oak hill.”
The #9,652 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 91,834 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Anderton is a locational surname taken from one of several places called Anderton in England. The Lancashire name is the best-known source and is usually explained as meaning “the farm or settlement associated with Ander/Andrew” or as a place-name of uncertain early form; the old sources here specifically connect it with townships in Cheshire/Lancashire. In Cornwall, however, the name is a separate local formation from Cornish elements interpreted as meaning “oak hill.”
History
The name appears in records from different counties, especially Lancashire and Cheshire, and was carried by families identified with the places they came from. Bardsley notes multiple English local sources, while Charnock distinguishes a Cornish Anderton from the Lancashire one. Because the surname arose independently in more than one area, not every modern bearer shares the same origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Charnock explicitly says the Cornish Anderton means “the oak hill,” and warns that it is not the same name as the Lancashire Anderton.
From the historical record
“goldsmith. ANDERTON. From Anderton, in Launcells ; from an-dar-ton, the oak hill. The non-Cornish name Anderton is from Anderton, a township and estate in co. Lancaster, formerly in the possession of the family. Af^DREWARTHA. From an-dre-varth, the higher town. ANEAR. See Anaeb. ANGEAR. From an^eare, the green or…”
— Patronymica Cornu-Britannica; or, the etymology of Cornish surnames