Moulton
A habitational surname from several English places named Moulton, probably meaning “Mule-enclosure” or “Mula’s farm.”
The #2,963 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 25,508 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Moulton is a place-based surname from English place-names such as Moulton in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Cheshire, and elsewhere. The name is usually explained from Old English roots meaning either “mule enclosure” or, more likely in many cases, “Mula’s farm/estate,” with the second element being tūn, “farmstead, settlement, estate.” Older spellings such as Multon and Miilantun support a very early medieval origin.
History
The surname arose independently from more than one English Moulton, so not every family with the name descends from the same place. The Norfolk and Lincolnshire place-names are recorded in medieval forms, and the surname appears in English records as a straightforward local byname for someone from one of these villages. Some older writers also mention a supposed connection with Devon, but the best-attested English origins are the eastern and midland place-names.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is one of those that may have developed several times independently, because there were multiple English places called Moulton.
From the historical record
“2 Mould's Son : Mould = Mold, q.v. MOULTON (Eng.) Bel. to Moulton = i the > Mule-Enclosure [O.E. mtil (Lat. mul-us) + tiin] 2 Mula's Estate [O.E. tiin} The Norfolk Moulton was Miilantun in A.D. 1037 ; and it and the Lincolnshire ; Moulton were Multon in the 13th cent., as was the Cheshire Moulton in A.D. 1303.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)