Knowlton
A locational surname meaning “from Knowlton,” originally taken from a parish place-name in Kent.
The #4,354 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 37,850 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Knowlton is a habitational surname, taken from the place called Knowlton in Kent. The place-name is generally understood as meaning something like “hill town” or “settlement by a hill,” from Old English elements referring to a hill and a farmstead or settlement. In surname use, it simply identified someone who came from that place.
History
The surname is recorded in historical surname dictionaries as a local or place-derived name. It appears as a stable English surname and later spread abroad, especially to the United States, where it became established in family lines descended from English immigrants. Bardsley also notes Knowlden as a likely spoken variant of the same name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley specifically remarks that Knowlden was likely just a lazily pronounced form of Knowlton.
From the historical record
“rouud hill. See KnoUys. KNOWLTON. A parish in Kent. KNOX. From the lands of Knocks or Knox, CO. Renfrew. Knock, Gael., a round- topped hill. The Knoxes were of that Ilk at an early period, and sometimes wrote themselves of Ranfurly, whence the family of Knox, Earls of Ranfurly in Ireland. The great Reformer was of…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom