POYNTON
Poynton is an English surname that originated as a locational name for people who settled in or near a particular geographical feature. The name is normally found in the medieval counties of Lincolnshire, Cheshire and Shropshire, where villages of the same name existed.
The etymology of Poynton can be analysed by its Old English components. It is derived from poega, meaning hill, and tun, a term used for an enclosure, farm or settlement. Poynton therefore means “the settlement or enclosure on the hill.”
Several variants of the surname have survived. The most common spellings are Pointon and Poynton, but dialectal differences account for forms such as Painten, Pontin, Paynton and Punton. These variations mirror the pronunciation differences found in the rural dialects of the English Midlands and North West.
The majority of individuals bearing the surname trace their ancestry to one of the medieval places named Pointon or Poynton. Early documentary evidence records a family of Jordan de Poyngntun in the 1210 rolls of Lincoln, and an Alice de Pynton in the 1344 court of the London Pleas. Subsequent mentions include a Robert Pointon of Essex in the 1419 rolls of the Feet of Fines, and a Joan Paintayn, who married John Burton in November 1562 in Dronfield, Derbyshire.
In addition to the English origin, a minority of families can trace their name to a French source. This line stems from the Huguenot surname Pantin, first recorded at Aryon, France, and introduced into England at the end of the seventeenth century. A notable example is Freind Paintin, who was christened in 1706 at the French Church on Threadneedle Street, London.
Families from the Cheshire line of the name were granted a coat of arms. The blazon reads: chequy gold and blue, on a red canton a silver lion rampant. The earliest definitive record of the surname is that of Alice de Poynton, dated 1344 in the Calendar of Pleas in the City of London, during the reign of King Edward the First, known as “the Father of the Navy.”
Thus, the surname Poynton preserves a clear link to a specific landscape feature and to the history of settlement in medieval England, while also embodying a rare instance of the integration of a continental surname into the English onomastic tradition.
Typical given names associated with the Poynton surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Jonathan
- Mark
- Michael
- Roger
- Stephen
- Thomas
Female
- Amanda
- Christine
- Claire
- Helen
- Janet
- Kathleen
- Laura
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Mary
- Michelle
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
- Paintain
- Painten
- Paintin
- Painton
- Panattoni
- Pandan
- Panden
- Pandian
- Pantan
- Pantani
- Pantano
- Panten
- Pantin
- Pantino
- Panton
- Pantone
- Pantoni
- Payntin
- Paynton
- Penden
- Pendino
- Pendon
- Peniton
- Penten
- Pentin
- Penton
- Piantino
- Piantoni
- Pinden
- Pindon
- Pinton
- Pointen
- Pointin
- Pointon
- Ponden
- Pondon
- Poneton
- Poniton
- Ponteen
- Ponten
- Pontin
- Ponting
- Ponton
- Pontone
- Pontoni
- Pountain
- Pountan
- Pounton
- Poyntin
- Poynting
- Poyntoz
- Poynts
- Poyntz
- Poyton
- Puntan
- Puntin
- Punton
- Pynton
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Poynton in...
Braille
⠏⠕⠽⠝⠞⠕⠝
Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 1,365 people named Poynton in the UK. That makes it roughly the 5,780th most common surname in Britain. Around 21 in a million people in Britain are named Poynton.
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 Poynton
- Thomas Poynton - Cricketer
- Adrian Poynton - Comedian
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.