Horton
A common English locational surname meaning “from Horton,” originally referring to someone from a farm or settlement on muddy or rough ground.
The #367 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 3,624 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Horton is an English place-name surname. The strongest traditional explanation derives it from Old English words meaning either “mud” or “dirt” plus tūn, “enclosure, farm, settlement,” so the name originally meant a settlement on muddy ground or rough land. Some older writers also tried to connect it with a different meaning involving herbs or a garden, but the place-name explanation is the standard one.
History
The surname arose independently from several English places called Horton, especially in Yorkshire, Kent, Dorset, Buckinghamshire, and elsewhere. Because more than one settlement had the same name, Horton could be adopted by unrelated families in different counties. It spread widely in England and later became well established in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Several English villages called Horton are recorded in medieval sources, which means the surname can have more than one geographic origin.
From the historical record
“former orthography. HORTON. (A-Sax. or/, or wort, herbs, or vegetables, and tun., an enclosure — a garden). Parishes and places in cos. Bucks, Chester, Dorset, Gloucest., Kent, Northampt., Northumb., Salop, York, Staf- ford, &c. HORWOOD. Parishes in cos. Bucking- ham and Devon. HOSE. The same as Hussey.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom