Belton
A surname usually taken from one of several English place-names called Belton.
The #3,939 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 34,149 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Belton is generally a locational surname, from places in England called Belton. The place-name is usually explained from Old English elements, often interpreted as a personal-name + bpartment name, though the exact first element is not always certain in the older sources. In surname use, it simply meant someone who came from one of these Belton places.
History
Medieval records show early forms such as de Belton, indicating people identified by origin from a Belton locality. The name appears in several counties, including Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Leicestershire, Rutland, and Suffolk, which helped the surname develop independently in more than one area. Later the surname spread beyond England through migration, including to North America.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley notes that some Belton place-names were important enough to generate a strongly ramified local surname line in Lincolnshire.
From the historical record
“Cambridge. BELTON". Parishes in cos. Leicester, Lincoln, Eutland, and Suffolk. BELWARD. " One Beluard" occurs as a Domesd. tenant, co. Gloucester, and William Belward, lord of Malpas, co. Ches- ter, founded many great Northern families. See Eng. Sum. ii. id. BEXCHE. Benche and Bence occur in the H. R., without the…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom