Knighton
A locational surname meaning “from Knighton,” referring to one of several English places of that name.
The #6,591 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 60,079 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Knighton is a place-name surname taken from villages and hamlets called Knighton in England. The name is generally understood as coming from Old English elements meaning “knight” and “farmstead, settlement,” so the literal sense is something like “knight’s settlement.” Historical surname dictionaries treat it as a straightforward local surname from one of several places called Knighton, rather than from a single fixed origin.
History
The surname appears in records as a local or topographic byname, used for people identified by their place of origin. Because there are several English places named Knighton, the surname could arise independently in different counties, including Dorset, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, and Worcestershire. It later spread beyond England through migration, and today it is found in the UK, the US, and other English-speaking countries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A well-known medieval bearer was Henry Knighton, the chronicler whose name is preserved in the title of his Latin chronicle.
From the historical record
“shire. Shirley's Noble and Gentle Men. KNIGHTON. Pai-ishes and places in cos. Dorset, Leicester, Stafford, "\^'orcester, &c. KNO 182 KNILL. Sir John, a younger son of the unfortunate William de Braose, temp.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom