Cato
An old personal name, probably from a Germanic or Latin source, later used as a surname.
The #4,285 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 37,207 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Cato is usually explained as coming from an old personal name rather than from an occupation or place. Some 19th-century writers linked it to an ancient Germanic name, while others connected it with the Roman name Cato, famous from classical antiquity. A Norman interpretation also appears in the sources, suggesting a form like Catot or Escatot in Normandy may lie behind some English families.
History
The name appears in medieval and early modern records in several forms, and it was borne by families in England long before modern spelling stabilized. Because the surname may have more than one origin, different lines of Cato may not share a single ancestor. In the United States it is uncommon but established, and it has also been used as a given name, especially in older naming fashions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century writers compared Cato with other classical names such as Caesar and Virgil, showing how readily surname scholars noticed Roman-style personal names.
From the historical record
“catanach, a warrior. CATO. An old Germ. name. Ferguson. CATON. Until the close of the XVI. cent., Catton and De Catton ; from the ma- nor of Catton near Norwich, which in Domesday is spelt Catun and Catuna. The family were located in Norfolk from time immemorial till the middle of the hist century. The…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom