Acton
A habitational surname from places named Acton, meaning a farmstead or settlement near oak trees.
The #6,874 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 63,112 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Acton comes from Old English roots meaning 'oak' and 'settlement' or 'farmstead'—essentially 'the farm by the oaks.' It is a place-based surname taken from one of several English localities called Acton. The form appears early in records as de Acton, showing that the name was originally used to identify someone from such a place.
History
Medieval records show bearers of the name in several parts of England, and the surname spread from multiple independent places called Acton rather than from one single family. Some lines became prominent, including the Actons of Aldenham in Shropshire and later baronets. The name remains most strongly associated with England, though it is now found more widely through migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source noted that there were many English places called Acton, making it a surname that could arise in several different families at once.
From the historical record
“ACOURT. A'COURT. See Court. ACTON. The Gazetteer mentions fifteen parishes or townsliips so called, and there are many other minor localities. The Ac- tons of Acton, in Ontbersley, co. Worcester, are said to haA'e been settled there in Saxon limes. They were certainly there temp. Henry III, ADAIR. A branch of the…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom