Wharton
A surname from English place names meaning a farmstead by a hollow or basin.
The #3,084 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 26,488 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Wharton is a habitational surname, taken from one of several English places called Wharton. The name is usually explained from Old English elements meaning a hollow, basin, or cauldron-shaped depression, plus tūn, meaning a farmstead or settlement. Some historical forms are a little uncertain, and one early Westmorland spelling has led scholars to note possible complications in the exact derivation.
History
The surname appears in medieval records attached to people from different Wharton places, especially in northern and western England. Like many locational surnames, it spread when people moved away from their home village and were identified by its name. The name remains most common in English-speaking countries, especially in the United States and Britain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
An early recorded spelling, Querton, shows how fluid medieval surname spelling could be before orthography was standardized.
From the historical record
“sister ; with E. dim. suff. -ie, -y] WHARTON (Eng.) Bel. to Wharton (several), 13th cent, usually Querlon (for Wherton) = the Farmstead in or by the Basin or Hollow [O.E. hwer, basin, cauldron, hollow (= O.N. huerr, kettle, cauldron, cave) -f tiin, farm, &c.] But the Westmoreland Wharton, al- though occurring…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)