Limon
A surname with more than one possible origin, including a place-name link and, in Spanish usage, association with the lemon tree or fruit.
The #2,496 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 21,334 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name may have several independent origins. In English records, it appears as a surname connected with places in Essex and other local forms, suggesting a locational origin from a place-name or nearby settlement. In French, similar forms can be linked to words for marshy alluvial ground or mud; in Spanish, Limon can reflect the common word for “lemon,” likely as a nickname, occupational, or ornamental-style surname in some families. Because these strands can be hard to separate, the surname is best treated as having mixed or uncertain origins.
History
The English-looking form appears in medieval records and later spread to North America, where related forms like Lyman also became established. In Spanish-speaking areas, Limon is fairly transparent as a lexical surname tied to the word for lemon, though not every bearer will share the same origin story. The name may therefore have arisen independently in more than one language and region.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older scholarship, surnames like Limon were often discussed alongside place-based names and fruit-based names because the spelling alone does not reveal which tradition a family belongs to.
From the historical record
“Essex, near Sudbury. Codfreyde LiMon,c<i. Bwi, Hm. tll- Tbnmaade Llttoi^ co. Emae, 1271. A. Geoffrry de LyMon, cr " — ■- ■*-■-■”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances