Duckworth
A surname of English local origin, probably from an old place name meaning “duck enclosure” or a related marshy spot.
The #2,968 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 25,558 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Duckworth is generally treated as a locational surname from a place name in England. The first element is usually taken from Old English docca or ducka, associated with ducks or a duck-like feature, and the second from worth, meaning an enclosure, homestead, or enclosed settlement. The older spelling cited in early sources, such as Dykewarde or Dykewarde, suggests a historical place-name form that later developed into Duckworth.
History
Early bearers are recorded in medieval northern English documents, especially in Yorkshire and Lancashire. Nineteenth-century surname writers connected the name with an estate in Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, and later references link it to local families in Cambridgeshire as well. The surname remained relatively uncommon but became better known through later public figures such as Admiral Sir James Duckworth.
Origin
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Fun fact
A 19th-century source even glossed an early form of the name as a place associated with dykes or waterworks, showing how much surname etymology depended on local place records.
From the historical record
“whom it was applied. DUCKWORTH. Before the time of Henry VIII. it was written Dyhewarde. B.L.G. An officer -who had the care of dykes. DUDEXEY. See Doudney. DUDLEY. A town and castle in co. Worcester. In Norman times it was the fief of the De Someries, whose descendants wei'e barons by tenure, though, as Sir H.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom