Welton
A habitational surname meaning someone from a place called Welton, originally “the farmstead by the spring.”
The #7,028 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 64,849 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Welton is a habitational surname taken from one of several English places called Welton. The name goes back to Old English elements meaning “spring” or “stream” and “farmstead” or “settlement,” so the literal sense is “farmstead by the spring.” The place-name appears in medieval records in forms such as Welleton and Weleton, showing the same basic meaning across time.
History
The surname was used for people identified by origin from Welton in counties such as Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire, and Somerset. Medieval surname records show forms like Roger de Weltone, which reflects the common practice of attaching a place-name to someone who had moved away from home. It remains a straightforward English locational surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Several English villages called Welton were important enough to give rise to the surname independently, so not all Weltons necessarily share one single ancestral place.
From the historical record
“WELSTED WELTON (Eng.) Bel. to Welton = the Farm- stead by the Spring [O.E. w{i)ell{a, a spring -f tiin, a farmstead, &c.] Welton, Northants and Lines, was Welton I3th-I4th cent. Welton, Soms., was Weleton 13th cent. Welton, Yorks, was Welleton and Welletun in Domes- day-Bk. WEM (Celt.) Bel. to Wem ; or Dweller by…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)