Chester
A surname from the city of Chester or from other places called Chester, ultimately meaning a Roman fort or walled town.
The #2,408 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 20,493 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Chester is a locational surname taken from Chester, the well-known city in Cheshire, or from one of several other places in England with the same name. The place-name goes back to Old English and Latin words for a Roman fort or camp, from Latin castra 'camp, fort' becoming Old English ceaster. In surname use, it usually marked someone who came from Chester or lived near such a place.
History
The name is strongly associated with the palatine city of Chester, though historical writers also note smaller Chester place-names in Durham, Northumberland, and Derbyshire. Lower specifically suggested that some Chester families, including those of Cocken, may have taken the name from Little Chester in Derbyshire. It has also been cited in the history of English surnames in Ireland, where town-names were sometimes adopted as imposed or preferred surnames.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same place-name element appears in many English names like Manchester, Winchester, and Lancaster, all going back to the idea of a Roman fort or settlement.
From the historical record
“CHESSMAN. See Cheesraan. CHESTER. The palatine city; also places in Durham, Northumb., and Derby. It was probably from Little Chester, in the last-named co., that the Chesters of Cocken- hatch assumed the name. CHESTERMAN. L A native of Chester, just as we say a Cornishman, a Kentish- man. 2. Many places where…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom