Whitton
A surname usually taken from one of several English places named for a “white farm” or, less often, “Hwita’s farm.”
The #9,940 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 95,116 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Whitton is generally a locational surname from places called Whitton in England. Most dictionaries connect the place-name to Old English hwit + tun, meaning “white farm, settlement, or enclosure,” though some also allow a personal-name origin from Hwita, a name based on hwit, “white” or “fair.” In other words, the surname usually means someone “from Whitton,” with the place-name itself probably referring to a pale-colored farmstead or hamlet.
History
The name is attached to several English places, including examples in Lincolnshire, Durham, Herefordshire, Northumberland, Shropshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, and elsewhere, which helped the surname arise independently in more than one district. It is therefore a multiple-origin surname rather than a single family line. Modern bearers in Britain and abroad may descend from different Whitton places.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because there were several places called Whitton, two people with the surname Whitton are not necessarily related at all.
From the historical record
“WHITTOME for Whitham, q.v. WHITTON (Eng.) i Bel. to Whitton (common) = (a) the VVhite Farm or Hamlet [O.E. hwit -j- tun'] (b) Hwita's Farm or Estate [Hwita, i. O.E. hwit, wliite, fair] 2 = Wheaton, q.v. WHITTONSTALL (Eng.) Bel. to Whittonstall (Northumb.), a.d. 1307 Whitonstall =”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)