UPTON
The surname Upton is of English origin and is traditionally understood to be a locational name. It is derived from the Old English words upp, meaning “up” or “upper”, and tun, meaning “enclosure”, “farm” or “settlement”. Thus, the name may be interpreted as “the settlement situated on higher ground”, or, in some instances, as a reference to a more important farm or settlement because it occupied a prominent position. The locational form of the name arises because the bearers of the surname originally resided in or near any of the places called Upton that can be found across England.
Historical records show that various villages and hamlets named Upton occur in numerous counties, including Cheshire, Devon, Gloucestershire, Berkshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Essex and Worcestershire. In many of these locations the place-name itself is traced back to before the seventh century, when the word up signalled an “upper or above” position, and the suffix tun identified a farm or settlement situated in that higher area. The term may have been used for summer grazing land or simply to identify a settlement away from the floodplain.
Documents in the medieval era provide some of the earliest attestations of the surname. The village of Upton in Essex is recorded in the Fines Court rolls of 1203 as Hupinton, a variant of the phrase “upp in tune” meaning a settlement in the upper part of the field. In Worcestershire, an entry in the Anglo‑Saxon Chronicles dated 957 gives the name aet Ubbantune, which is probably derived from the personal name Ubba combined with tun, indicating a settlement belonging to or founded by a man named Ubba. The Hundred Rolls of Berkshire in 1272 contain the name John de Upton as a recorded instance of the surname. In Ireland, many holders of the name are known to descend from Henry Upton of Devon, who served under the Earl of Essex in 1598 and was granted lands in the Irish Isles.
The name has also existed in several spelling variations, such as Uptown and Uptowne. These forms illustrate the fluid nature of early English orthography and the tendency to reflect pronunciation or regional usage when surnames were first being fixed.
Typical given names associated with the Upton surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Stephen
Female
- Christine
- Claire
- Deborah
- Elizabeth
- Joanne
- Julie
- Linda
- Margaret
- Nicola
- Patricia
- 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 Upton in...
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There are approximately 10,241 people named Upton in the UK. That makes it the 909th most common surname in Britain. Around 157 in a million people in Britain are named Upton.
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 Upton
- Andrew Upton - Australian playwright and director
- Kate Upton - American model and actress
- Sue Upton - Actress
- Barry Upton - Songwriter, arranger, musician and producer
- Eben Upton - Computer scientist
- Clive Upton - Sociolinguist
- Frank Upton - Football player and manager (1934 to 2011)
- James Upton - Recipient of the Victoria Cross (1888 to 1949)
- Phil Upton - DJ
- Solomon Upton - Football player (1891 to 1)
- Mark Upton - Cricketer
- Nobby Upton - Football player
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.