MELTON
Melton is an English surname that can be traced back to the early medieval period. It is a locational name, deriving from places within the British Isles that bear the same designation and which were recorded in medieval documents as early as the Domesday Book of 1086.
The etymology of the name is rooted in Old English. The first element is believed to come from the word mǣl, meaning “cross”, and the second from tūn, meaning an enclosure or settlement. Together they give the sense of “settlement near the cross”, suggesting that the original family may have lived close to a cross-shaped landmark such as a crossroads or a church. In another, less frequent tradition the name is taken from the Old English middel (later replaced by the Old Norse methal or medal) combined with tun, yielding the interpretation “middle settlement” for a location situated between two other places.
Records of the surname are found in a handful of English counties. It appears in several settlements called Melton, for example in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and both East and West Yorkshire. The Domesday entries for these sites are recorded as Medeltone or Meltuna, demonstrating the antiquity of the place name and its subsequent adoption as a family name.
The earliest known instance of the family name is that of John de Melton in 1273, listed in the Hundred Rolls of Norfolk. This period coincides with the reign of King Edward I, known as “the Hammer of the Scots”. Later church records also contain Marten and Thomas Merlon, recording baptisms and marriages: a christening of John Melton in Huggate, Yorkshire on 15 November 1539, and the marriage of Thomas Melton to Agnes Barkworth in Tattershall, Lincolnshire on 1 July 1571.
Other documented bearers of the name include Henry Melton, an early emigrant who left London aboard the “David” in September 1635 for Virginia. The heraldic description associated with the name depicts a silver cross patonce surmounted by another blue cross, positioned between four gold cinquefoils on a blue shield.
In contemporary Britain, the surname Melton remains largely a geographic identifier, with individuals bearing the name mostly found within the same regions that gave rise to the original place names. The name today carries a sense of continuity with England’s medieval past, reflecting both the linguistic heritage of Anglo‑Saxon and Old Norse influence and the enduring tradition of locational surnames.
Typical given names associated with the Melton surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- Christopher
- David
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Stephen
Female
- Alison
- Amanda
- Carol
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Jane
- Julie
- Karen
- Margaret
- Mary
- Samantha
- Sarah
- 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 Melton in...
Braille
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Morse
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There are approximately 2,193 people named Melton in the UK. That makes it roughly the 3,902nd most common surname in Britain. Around 34 in a million people in Britain are named Melton.
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 Melton
- Charles Melton - American actor
- Steve Melton - Football player
- Steve Melton - Businessman
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.