Vaught
An English surname that was likely a regional or spelling variant tied to names like Vaux, Vause, or Vaughan.
The #3,738 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 32,582 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical sources do not give a single secure derivation for Vaught, but they link it with a cluster of similar surnames such as Vaux, Vause, Vawse, and Vaughan. Barber suggests it may be a locational name, possibly connected with Normandy or with the French surname Vavasseur/Vavassour, though this is not presented as certain. The name may therefore reflect a medieval French place-name or surname that was later reshaped in English spelling.
History
The surname appears in English-language surname discussions mainly as a variant or cousin of better-known forms rather than as a strongly established headword with its own separate origin. In American records it is uncommon but persistent, which fits a family name that survived through regional spelling variation. The historical references do not identify a famous bearer strongly enough to settle one fixed origin story.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries often treated Vaught as part of a whole family of overlapping spellings, showing how fluid surname spelling could be before standardization.
From the historical record
“Vaught. See Faught Vi Vaus, Vause, Vawse. See Vaux Vaux. A loc. n., Belg. and Norn Vi Vavassour. Fr. Vavasseur, I Vi Vavasseur ; p.n. See offici; Vi”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)