Batten
A surname with several overlapping origins: it can be a patronymic form of Bartholomew, or a locational name from places in Cornwall or elsewhere.
The #4,597 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 40,014 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Batten has more than one possible source in historical records. English writers often treated it as a shortened or pet form of Bartholomew, via forms like Bat or Batte with the diminutive -in/-en. Other evidence points to locational origins, especially from an estate or place-name in North Hill, Cornwall, and possibly from Norman French Bethune/de Bethune in some branches. The surname may therefore have arisen independently in different families.
History
The name appears in medieval and later English records in several spellings, including Batten, Battin, Battenson, Battison, and Batting. Some families, especially in Cornwall, were linked by local antiquarians to the place-name Battin/Batten in North Hill. Other bearers seem to have been connected to Flemish or Norman families, showing that the surname does not have a single simple origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century antiquarians connected Batten with both a Cornish place-name and a Flemish merchant family, which is a good reminder that one surname can have more than one history.
From the historical record
“BATTEN Hoosebold Exp., Bishop Swinfield (Cam. SocX p. 1^1. i6_56. ^pt.— John, aon of John Battell : Sl Jm. Clerkoiwell, i. 195. , London, 1, 3; Crockiord, o, i; New York, ^ 6 ; Philadelphia, i, i. Batten, Battenson, Batte-”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)