Lawton

Etymology

Lawton is a locational surname, taken from one of the English places called Lawton. The name is usually explained as coming from an Old English personal name or word plus tūn, meaning a settlement, farm, or enclosure, though the exact first element is not always spelled out in the older sources. In surname use, it simply meant someone who came from Lawton, especially the Cheshire place recorded earlier without the later Church- prefix.

History

The older dictionaries place the name chiefly in Cheshire, but also note possible confusion with similar place-names elsewhere in England. Some families later used Lawton as a hereditary surname after leaving the locality. Lower also reports a family tradition linking one line to Robert, a younger son of the Davenport family, who settled at Lawton in the 13th century and took the local name.

Origin

Regions

Variant spellings

Fun fact

Church Lawton in Cheshire was once simply recorded as Lawton, which is why the surname can point back to that parish.