Pemberton
A locational surname meaning “from Pemberton,” originally taken from the Lancashire place-name.
The #3,207 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 27,390 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Pemberton is a habitational surname from the township of Pemberton in Lancashire. The place-name is recorded early as forms like Penberton, and one old explanation analyzes it as an ending with Old English -tun meaning “farm” or “estate.” The first element is less certain: it has been linked either to a personal name such as Penda or to the Old English penn, “enclosure, pen,” though the exact derivation is debated.
History
The surname appears in medieval records in Lancashire and later spreads more widely in England. Nineteenth-century surname writers consistently treated it as a local name from the Wigan area. It also appears in later American records through English migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same surname books that connect Pemberton to Lancashire also note the place as an early medieval township name, making it a classic English locational surname.
From the historical record
“Eng. place-name Pertiberton, / . PEMBERTON (Engl) Bel. to Pemberton (Lanes), A.D. 1200 Penberton [v. under Pennber, and -t- O.E. tin, farm, estate, etc.] PEMBRIDGE. Bel. to Pembridge (Heref.), 13th cent. Penbrigge, Penfiebrigge [the bridge, O.E. brycg, is over the R. Arrow ; the pl^ce is sufficiently close to the…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)