Skelton
A habitational surname from places called Skelton, especially in northern England.
The #2,330 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,761 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Skelton is generally understood as a place-name surname, taken from one of several English places called Skelton. The name is usually explained as a northern form of Shelton, going back to Old English elements meaning something like “shelf” or “ledge” plus “town” or “settlement.” The older sources here point especially to Yorkshire and Cumberland place-names.
History
Medieval records show the place-name in forms such as Scheltun and Scheltone, and families later took the name from those places. Lower notes early bearers in Cumberland, while Harrison also treats it as a northern English local surname. The surname is well known from the poet John Skelton (c. 1460–1529), which helped keep the name visible in literary history.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The spelling with -k- reflects a northern pronunciation that helped distinguish Skelton from Shelton in older English records.
From the historical record
“fusion with Scully, q.v. SKELTON (Eng.) Bel. to Skelton— a Northern (guttural) form of Shelton, q.v. Two of the Yorks places were Scheltun and Scheltone in Domesday-Book, Skene 165”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)