ERRINGTON
Errington is a surname of English origin, derived from a toponymic source in Northumberland, England. The name is historically associated with a small settlement situated on the river Erring, or alternatively with a place named Errington in the same county.
The earliest known etymology traces the surname to Old English elements. The component eorra, meaning “gravel” or “stones,” is combined with tun, meaning “enclosure” or “settlement.” Consequently, one interpretation of Errington is “the settlement near the gravel or stony area.” A second possible derivation invokes a pre‑Roman British river name, Erring, which may be related to the Welsh word arian, meaning “silvery” or “bright.” In that case, Errington would translate as “the settlement on the silvery stream.”
Alternative Old English theories propose that the name incorporates Earing, a personal name, with ing (people of) and tun, yielding “the settlement of Earing’s people.” Yet another possibility points to Earn (eagle) plus ing and tun, giving “settlement of the people of the eagle.” Each derivation reflects the same geographic principle: the family’s ancestors resided or held land at a specific locality in Northumberland.
Historical records demonstrate that the surname appeared in several spellings. In the 16th‑century church registers of Yorkshire and Northumberland it was recorded as Haryngton, Herrington, Erington, and Errington. The first documented instance of the name was Ellen Haryngton in the “Birth Registers of York City” in 1510, during the reign of King Henry V, who is sometimes referred to as “Bluff King Hal.” A later example is the christening of an infant, Elynor Errington, on 30 August 1573 in St. Nicholas Parish, Newcastle‑upon‑Tyne, Northumberland.
In the nineteenth century, a notable bearer of the name was John Edward Errington (1806–1862). He was a civil engineer who designed harbour works in Greenock in 1841 and promoted the construction of the railway system extending from Lancaster to Inverness. In 1861 he was appointed vice‑president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, reflecting the prominence of the name in professional circles of the era.
The Errington family of Northumberland were granted a coat of arms that features a silver shield with two bars and, in the chief, three azure escallops. The crest is a red cock, combed and wattled black. This heraldic device has been used in formal representations of the family lineage for several centuries.
While the surname remains predominantly British, it has spread across the globe through emigration and colonial expansion. Concentrations of people bearing the name are found most frequently in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear. Internationally, descendants can be identified in Canada, the United States and Australia, though the name retains its traditional English character and spelling.
Variations of the surname include Earington, Eryngton, Erringden, Erriton and Erringdon. The use of prefixes such as “de Errington” or hyphenated combinations like Errington‑Smith sometimes indicates marital alliances or estate inheritances. Care must be taken in genealogical research to recognise that similar spellings may refer to distinct family lines, and that spelling changes often followed phonetic interpretation, clerical error or deliberate adaptation to new social contexts.
Typical given names associated with the Errington surname
Male
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Richard
- Robert
- Thomas
- William
Female
- Elizabeth
- Jane
- Joanne
- Julie
- Karen
- Lesley
- Linda
- Louise
- Margaret
- Nicola
- Rachel
- 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 Errington in...
Braille
⠑⠗⠗⠊⠝⠛⠞⠕⠝
Morse
..-..-...-.--.-----.
Semaphore
There are approximately 3,548 people named Errington in the UK. That makes it roughly the 2,590th most common surname in Britain. Around 54 in a million people in Britain are named Errington.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Errington
- Harry Errington - Recipient of the George Cross (1910 to 2004)
- Robert Malcolm Errington - Historian of classical antiquity
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.