Hooten
A surname that likely began as a local or familial form of an older personal name, later fixed in English-speaking families.
The #7,048 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 64,985 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hooten is most likely an English surname that developed from a place-name or from a shortened personal name now obscured by later spelling. In many cases, names of this type arose as 'from Hooton' or a similar form, with the final -en/-in ending reflecting regional pronunciation or later spelling variation. The core element is probably related to an Old English place-name meaning something like 'ridge hill' or 'settlement on a spur,' though the exact route to the modern surname is not fully certain.
History
The surname appears in English-speaking records in several spellings, and in the United States it is now a relatively uncommon family name. As with many surnames that became standardized only after migration, Hooten may represent a phonetic spelling that stabilized in different lines of the same family. It is found especially in the United States, where it was carried by English-descended families and later spread through ordinary internal migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Hooten is often close in form to Hooton, a better-known English place-derived surname, so the two are sometimes historically linked in spelling records.