Wheaton
A place-based surname meaning “from the wheat enclosure” or “from Wheaton,” a place name built from Old English words for wheat and farm/settlement.
The #3,847 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 33,552 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as coming from a place name, especially Wheaton in Staffordshire. One historical analysis takes the name back to Old English words meaning “wheat” plus “enclosure” or “farm/settlement,” so the literal sense is something like “wheat town” or “wheat enclosure.” In practice, the surname would have been used for someone who came from that place.
History
The name appears in English records as a local surname and was later carried beyond its original area by migration. Nineteenth-century surname writers especially linked it with Staffordshire, while some noted its presence in Devon as a place-based name there as well. In the United States it is established but fairly uncommon, which fits a surname with several independent local origins or one that spread gradually from England.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One old explanation glosses Wheaton quite literally as “wheat-town,” reflecting how often English surnames preserve the landscape of the place they came from.
From the historical record
“2 = Whiteman, q.v. WHEATON (Eng). i Bel. to Wheaton = the Wheat-Enclosure [O.E. hwikte +tun] 2 = Whitton, q.v. Wheaton Aston, Stafls, was Whetone Aston in the 14th cent. WHEATSTONE = Whetstone, q.v. WHEBLe'"} "^"""P' '°™^ °'^ Wlbble, q.v.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)