Minton
An English surname usually linked to a place-name in Shropshire, likely meaning either “coin town” or “Minna’s town.”
The #2,626 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 22,475 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally taken from the place-name Minton in Shropshire. One older explanation breaks the name into Old English mynet, meaning “coin” or “coinage,” plus -tun, “enclosure” or “farmstead,” giving the sense of a settlement associated with money or minting. Another possibility is that the first element is a personal name, such as Minna, followed by -tun, so the original meaning would be “Minna’s settlement.”
History
The name is documented in medieval records and was already associated with Shropshire in the 19th-century surname literature. Some early bearers also appear in Northumberland, which suggests the name could occasionally arise from more than one local source. In later centuries it spread beyond its original English localities and is now found more widely in the English-speaking world.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A few older writers linked Minton to the same Old English word behind modern “mint,” because of the possible mynet element.
From the historical record
“MINTON (Eng.) Bel. to Minton (Salop), 13th cent. Mineton [the first element is either for O.E. mynet, coinage, or the A.-Sax. pers. name Min{n)a (v. Minn) + M.E -ton = O.E. tun, enclosure, dwelling] MIRFIELD (Scand. + Eng.) Bel. to Mirfield (Yorks), 14th cent. Mirfeld = the Bog-”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)