ELLERTON
The Ellerton surname is a locational name of English origin. It derives from places called Ellerton in the counties of Shropshire and Yorkshire. Such surnames traditionally arose when individuals migrated and were identified by the settlement from which they came.
According to the earliest recorded forms in the Domesday Book of 1086, the Yorkshire locations were listed as Elreton, Alerton and Elreton, while the Shropshire place appears as Athelarton and Ethelarton in the Feudal Aids of 1285. These entries point to the use of the Old English words ælf meaning “elf” and tūn meaning “enclosure” or “settlement.” Consequently, the surname Ellerton can be interpreted as “the settlement of the elves” or simply “the enclosure of the elves.”
Later medieval records show alternative derivations for the other Yorkshire places. The name is linked to the Old English element Alor – meaning alder – which may have been replaced by the Old Norse elri. Thus the place name could mean “the dwelling by the alder‑trees.”
The earliest documented instance of the family name is found in the Assize Rolls of Yorkshire, dated 1204, where a Ralph de Elreton is listed. During the reign of King John (1199‑1216), surnames were increasingly fixed, and the de Ellerton prefix was common in Yorkshire, as illustrated by individuals such as Prior de Ellerton recorded in the Hundred Rolls of 1279 and John de Ellerton, a Freeman of York in 1300.
A later example, Roger de Ethelartone, appears in the Chartulary of Ronton Priory in 1307, indicating the continued use of the locational form of the name throughout the early fourteenth century.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a prominent bearer of the name was Edward Ellerton (1770‑1851). Educated at Oxford in 1795, he founded the Ellerton theological Essay prize in 1826 and co‑founded the Magdalen and Ellerton scholarships in 1832. He also published writings opposing Tractarianism in 1845, thereby contributing to theological debate of the time.
Through these records, the Ellerton surname illustrates the typical evolution of English locational surnames, from place names first recorded in the Domesday Book to the establishment of a surname linked to family identity and scholarly accomplishment in later centuries.
Typical given names associated with the Ellerton surname
Male
- Andrew
- Darren
- David
- John
- Michael
- Mike
- Paul
- Peter
- Rick
- Robert
- Stephen
- Thomas
- Tim
- William
Female
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Jean
- Jill
- Joan
- Laura
- Lisa
- Louise
- Margaret
- Mary
- Roberta
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Ellerton in...
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Morse
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There are approximately 945 people named Ellerton in the UK. That makes it roughly the 7,689th most common surname in Britain. Around 15 in a million people in Britain are named Ellerton.
Famous people named Ellerton
- John Ellerton - Hymnwriter (1826 to 1893)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.