Denton
A habitational surname meaning “from Denton,” taken from one of several English places with that name.
The #1,268 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,129 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Denton is a place-name surname. It usually comes from Old English elements meaning “valley” and “farmstead/village,” so the literal sense is often understood as “settlement in a valley.” Because there were many places called Denton across England, the surname could arise independently in different counties.
History
The historical sources explicitly connect Denton with multiple English parishes and townships, especially in Yorkshire and other counties, showing that it developed as a common locational surname rather than from a single family line. As with many English surnames, different bearers may descend from different places named Denton. The name is well established in England and later appears widely in the English-speaking world, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname was common enough in medieval and early modern England that antiquarian sources list many separate Denton place-names as possible origins.
From the historical record
“land. DENTON. Parishes in cos. Durham, Hunts, Kent, Lancaster, Lincoln, Norfolk, Oxon, Northampt., Sussex, York, and Nor- thumlierlaud. DENl^ER. See Denman. DE PUTPtON. The village or contree de Putron, of which the family were an- ciently lords, is in Guernsey, but there is good authority in the heraldic archives…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom