Buxton
A habitational surname from English places named Buxton, probably meaning “Bucca’s town” or “Bucga’s settlement.”
The #4,477 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 38,958 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Buxton is a habitational surname taken from one or more English place-names, especially Buxton in Derbyshire and other places of the same name. The first element is generally taken to be an Old English personal name such as Bucca or Bucga, combined with tūn, meaning “farmstead,” “settlement,” or “estate.” In that sense, the name likely began as “Bucca’s settlement” or a similar local possession-name.
History
The surname appears in records from medieval England, and the Derbyshire line was already using forms such as De Bawkestone in the 13th century. Later spellings were sometimes reduced or altered, and historical surname dictionaries also note Buckston as a variant. The place-name connection makes it a classic English local surname rather than a nickname or occupation.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One historical note links the Derbyshire Buxtons to the spelling De Bawkestone in the 1200s, showing how far medieval surname forms could drift from the modern version.
From the historical record
“BUXTED. A parish in Sussex. BUXTON. Places in cos. Derby, Here- ford, and Norfolk. The baronet traces to the XV. cent, in the last-named county. The Buxtons of Derby, in the XIII. cent,, wrote themselves De Bawkestone. Lysous. BUZZACOT. Probably Buscot, co. Berks. BUZZARD. An A-Norm. family, named Bosard or…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom