Upton
A habitational surname meaning “from the upper or higher farmstead,” taken from several English places named Upton.
The #2,616 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 22,423 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Upton comes from Old English up + tūn, literally “upper farmstead” or “higher settlement.” It was used for people who came from one of several places called Upton in England. Because there were many such places, the surname likely arose independently in more than one family line.
History
The surname is well attested in medieval England and appears in records from different counties, which supports multiple independent origins. Some later families, including a Cornwall line noted by 19th-century writers, traced themselves to an Upton manor in East Cornwall. The name remained especially common in England and then spread to North America and other English-speaking regions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Upton was a common place-name, medieval records can show several unrelated Upton families living in different counties at the same time.
From the historical record
“[O.E. up + stdn] UPTON (Eng.) Bel. to Upton (acommon Eng. place-name), 13th cent. Upton, A.-Sax. Uptiin = the Upper or High Farmstead or Village [O.E. up -\- t4n] upward”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)