Ashton
A common English surname from places named for ash trees, meaning “ash-tree settlement.”
The #2,922 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 25,177 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ashton is a locational surname taken from one of several English places of that name. It comes from Old English elements meaning “ash tree” plus “farm, estate, or settlement,” so the literal sense is “settlement by the ash trees.” Medieval records produced many independent families with this surname, because the place-name occurs in more than one county.
History
The name was widely adopted by people who had moved from an Ashton in their county of origin, which is why the surname appears in several unrelated local families. Historical surname dictionaries note many parishes and townships called Ashton across England. The form has remained common in England and later spread to other English-speaking countries, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because so many English places were called Ashton, the surname can have several separate local origins rather than one single family line.
From the historical record
“grow. ASHTON. The Gazetteer mentions eighteen parishes and townships so called, in various counties, and there are many minor localities of the same name. ASHURST. A parish in Kent, another m Sussex. ASH WELL. Parishes in cos. Herts, Eutland, and Norfolk. ASmVOOD. Villages in Staffordshire”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom