Drayton
A habitational surname meaning “from Drayton,” originally used for people who came from one of several English places of that name.
The #4,640 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 40,369 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Drayton is a place-name surname taken from one of the many English towns and villages called Drayton. The name is generally understood as Old English elements meaning “dry settlement” or “settlement on a dry ridge,” from dreg/drag and tūn, though place-name details can vary by locality. As a surname, it simply identified a person by origin: “of Drayton.”
History
The name appears widely in medieval records in forms such as de Drayton, reflecting a straightforward locational byname. Because there are many Draytons across England, the surname could arise independently in several counties. It remained especially common in English records and later spread to the wider ангlosphere through migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley noted that there were many English parishes called Drayton, which helps explain why the surname shows up in several separate medieval lineages.
From the historical record
“Dray. DRAYTON. Towns, parishes, &c., in COS. Berks, Leicester, Norfolk, Oxon, Somerset, Staiford, Buckingham, Cam- bridge, Nottingham, &c. DRESDEN. From the metropolis of Saxony. DRESSER. Probably some handicraft. DREW. DRE WE. l . Drogo, an early Norman personal name, w;^ so anglicised.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom