POULTON
Poulton is an English surname of locational origin, denoting a person who hailed from or was associated with a settlement situated near a body of water. The name derives from the Old English elements pol, meaning “pool” or “stream,” and tun, meaning “enclosure” or “farm.” Consequently, the toponym translates as “settlement by a pool.”
The surname is recorded in several English counties under the same basic form. Notable places named Poulton include those in Cheshire, Gloucestershire, Kent and Lancashire. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the villages are listed as Poltune, reflecting the Anglo‑Saxon roots that pre‑date the Norman Conquest. These early records confirm that the locational component of the surname arose in the very earliest generations of medieval England.
Locational surnames such as Poulton were typically adopted by local landowners, by lords of the manor or by former residents who had relocated to another area, often in search of work. Their new identity was then identified by the name of their former birthplace. The first recorded instance of the surname appears in the early 14th century, in the Exchequer Lay Subsidy Rolls of Somerset, where a man named Henry de Pulton is noted in 1327, during the reign of King Edward III.
Later, in ecclesiastical records from Kent, the surname continued to flourish. In Strood near Rochester on 26 January 1578 a marriage was recorded between Ellen Pulton and Thomas Jenckins; on 1 February 1636, Margaret Poulton married John Steele in Sandback; and on 11 March 1693 the christening of Judith, daughter of John Poulton, took place at St. Mary the Virgin, Dover.
The family’s heraldic achievement, described in traditional blazon, is a silver shield bearing a black fess between three black mullets. This coat of arms is associated historically with the Poulton lineage in England and appears in heraldic registers that record the arms of English families.
Typical given names associated with the Poulton surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Richard
- Robert
Female
- Ann
- Catherine
- Claire
- Emma
- Janet
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Mary
- Michelle
- Nicola
- Rebecca
- Sarah
- Susan
- Victoria
Similar and related surnames
- Pailton
- Paladin
- Paladina
- Paladini
- Paladino
- Paldino
- Palladini
- Palladino
- Pallatina
- Palleton
- Pallottini
- Palten
- Paltnoi
- Palton
- Paludan
- Paulden
- Pauldin
- Pauldine
- Pauldon
- Paulton
- Pellaton
- Pelletan
- Peltan
- Pelton
- Pilton
- Platan
- Platania
- Platen
- Platini
- Platon
- Platoni
- Platten
- Plattin
- Platton
- Playden
- Playdon
- Playton
- Pleaden
- Pletan
- Pleydon
- Plowden
- Plowdon
- Polden
- Poldon
- Polidano
- Politano
- Polten
- Polton
- Poolton
- Poulden
- Pouldon
- Poulston
- Poult
- Poulten
- Poultin
- Poultney
- Powlton
- Pullitone
- Pulton
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Poulton in...
Braille
⠏⠕⠥⠇⠞⠕⠝
Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 5,459 people named Poulton in the UK. That makes it roughly the 1,738th most common surname in Britain. Around 84 in a million people in Britain are named Poulton.
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 Poulton
- Edward Bagnall Poulton - Evolutionary biologist (1856 to 1943)
- Tom Poulton - Artist (1897 to 1963)
- Paul Poulton - Singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and writer
- Mabel Poulton - Actress (1901 to 1994)
- Peter Jarrod Poulton - Radio host
- Diana Poulton - Lutenist (1903 to 1995)
- Raymond Poulton - Film editor (1916 to 1992)
- George Poulton - Football player (1929 to 2010)
- Ronald Poulton - Rugby union football player (1889 to 1915)
- Alonzo Poulton - Football player (1890 to 1)
- Edward Palmer Poulton - Physician and physiologist (1883 to 1939)
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.