Carlton
A locational surname meaning “from Carlton,” originally referring to one of several English settlements with that name.
The #1,698 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 14,562 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Carlton is a habitational surname taken from places called Carlton in England. The name is usually explained as Old English ceorl or carl, meaning “free peasant” or “man,” plus tūn, “farmstead, village, or settlement,” so the literal sense is “the settlement of the peasants/men.” In some cases the same place-name may also have been influenced by nearby forms such as Charlton or Chorlton, which are related variants in medieval spelling.
History
The surname was adopted by people who left a place called Carlton and were identified by their origin. Because there were many places with this name, the surname arose independently in more than one family line. Nineteenth-century surname dictionaries note that England alone had many Carlton place-names, helping explain the surname’s multiple and widespread branches.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source noted more than twenty English parishes or townships named Carlton, which is why the surname has several separate origins.
From the historical record
“Carolus, Charles. CARLTON. CARLETON. The Eng- lish gazetteer shows twenty-two parishes, townships, &c. so called, and there are many others. Lord Dorchester's family deduce from Carleton, co. Cumberland. CARLYON. An estate near Truro, Cornwall, in which co. tlie family have long been eminent. CARIMAN. Not so likely…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom