Hylton
A surname taken from a place-name, most commonly linked to Hilton in County Durham.
The #4,199 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 36,581 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hylton is a spelling variant of Hilton, a name formed from Old English elements meaning roughly “hill settlement” or “settlement on a hill.” The second element is the common Old English tun, “farmstead,” “village,” or “enclosure,” while the first element is usually taken to be hyll, “hill.” The surname therefore began as a locational name for someone from Hilton/Hylton.
History
The name is strongly associated with the old baronial family of Hylton in County Durham, whose seat was Hylton Castle. Historical surname dictionaries usually treat Hylton simply as a spelling form of Hilton rather than a separate origin. The spelling with -y- reflects older or regional orthography and survives in a smaller number of bearers than Hilton.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Hylton Castle helped make the Durham branch of the name especially famous, and the family was noted in medieval and early modern English genealogy.
From the historical record
“IIYKE. The same as Hick. HYLTON. See Hilton. HYNDMAN. See Hindraan. I. IbBET. See Ilbert. H3BETS0N. The son of Ibbet ov Ilbert. An ancient family in Yorkshire.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom