Lofton
Lofton is most likely a place-based English surname, originally meaning someone from a loft or high place, or from a local spot named Lofton.
The #2,590 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 22,212 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lofton is usually explained as a locational surname built from an Old English place-name element. The first part likely comes from Old English "loft," meaning an upper room, loft, or elevated place; the second element may be the common place-name ending "-ton," from Old English "tūn," meaning a farmstead or settlement. In that sense, the name would originally have meant something like "settlement on or near the loft/high place."
History
The evidence provided here does not include a clean historical entry for the surname itself, so this is a conservative onomastic reconstruction rather than a citation-backed derivation. The name is established in English-language records by the 16th century, and later became well represented in the United States, especially in African American surname usage after emancipation, as with many English place-based surnames.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lofton has a strong toponymic feel, and names of this type were often adopted from a person's former village, hilltop farm, or nearby landmark.
From the historical record
“KOEM.V}; NAMES A^sD FAMILIES FEO)! THE. LOFTON POST-OFFICE DIEECTOFiY. . ' LIST OF Ar.BIUTIATIOXS FP.EQrENTLY EMPLOYED IN THE ,\LriIABE]'ICAL SEIUES. Dcd Bois . Aubort Dos Boi.-, Diet, de la Noblesse. Ejton . . Eytoo'a llistoiy of Salop. Fuller . . Fuller, Worthies of England.”
— The Norman People and their existing descendants in the British dominions and the United States