Toth
An English surname that likely began as a nickname meaning “tooth,” though the same spelling can also reflect unrelated Central European names.
The #1,826 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,748 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The English surname in the historical excerpts is treated as a nickname from Old English and Middle English words for “tooth,” with the sense probably referring to some tooth-related feature or possibly a sharp, pointed trait. Medieval records show forms such as Thomas Toth and William Tothe. In modern use, however, Toth is also a well-known Hungarian surname, where the spelling reflects a different origin entirely and means “Slovak” or more broadly “Slav.”
History
In England, the name appears in medieval records in forms like Toth and Tothe, and it was grouped by nineteenth-century surname scholars with other nickname surnames such as Dent. Separately, the Hungarian surname Tóth became common across Central Europe and is now the better-known source of many modern bearers of the spelling Toth. As a result, the same spelling today may point to either an English medieval nickname line or a Hungarian ethnic surname line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Tóth is one of the most common surnames in Hungary, so many modern people spelled Toth descend from the Hungarian name rather than the old English nickname.
From the historical record
“TOOTH (Eng.) a nickname, like the cognate Dent [M.E. toth, O.E. t£^, a tooth, tusk] Thomas Toth. — Hund. Rolls. TOOTH ILL \ (Eng.) Dweller at a Toot-Hill,”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)