Hatton
A place-based surname from several English localities called Hatton, literally meaning “Hætta’s settlement” or a similar early English farmstead name.
The #2,966 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 25,537 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hatton is generally understood as a locational surname taken from one of several English places named Hatton, especially in Cheshire, Middlesex, and Staffordshire. The place-name is usually explained from an Old English personal name such as Hætta combined with tūn, meaning “farmstead,” “estate,” or “settlement.” Some older writers suggested other explanations, but the place-name derivation is the standard one.
History
The surname arose independently in different parts of England from people identified by their home village or manor. Lower notes a Cheshire family of Hatton and connects the name with the estate of Hatton in that county; later surname dictionaries also treat it as a place-name surname. The name spread beyond its original local centers and is now found in Britain, Ireland, North America, and other English-speaking regions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Hatton name was borne by a notable Cheshire family that later rose to prominence in English gentry and noble circles.
From the historical record
“ship in Cheshire. HATTON. Several parishes, &c., bear this name in different counties. The HAW noble family were descended from Sir Adam Hatton, of Hatton, co. Cheshire, grandson of Wulfrid, brother of Nigel, who was lord of Halton in the same county, by the gift of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, soon after the Conquest.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom