Elston
A locational surname meaning “from Elston,” originally taken from several English places by that name.
The #5,934 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 53,204 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Elston is a habitational surname, taken from one of the English places called Elston, especially those in Nottinghamshire and Lancashire. The name is generally explained as meaning “Ēlla’s farm/settlement” or “Ella’s tūn,” with Old English tūn meaning an enclosure, farm, or village. Some older writers also treated it simply as a place-name surname without pressing the exact personal-name element too far.
History
The surname appears in medieval and early modern records in several English counties, and different families may have taken it independently from different Elston places. Bardsley and Lower both link the name to Nottinghamshire and Lancashire examples, while later surname dictionaries also list it as locational. It has remained relatively uncommon, though established in English-speaking countries, especially Britain and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley notes that at least one Elston family in Lancashire could trace its presence in the same district for several centuries.
From the historical record
“Durham. ELSTON. ELLSTON. Parishes, &c , in cos. Nottingham, Lancaster, &c. ELSTOW. A parish in Bedfordshire, the birthplace of the "illustrious dreamer," John Bunyan. ELSWORTH. ELSWORTHY. A pa- rish in Cambridgeshire. ELTHAIM. A parish in Kent.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom