Mounts
Likely a pluralized surname from “Mount,” referring to someone who lived near a hill or mound, or possibly a shortened form of a place-based name.
The #8,361 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 77,966 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Mounts is most likely an English surname built from Mount, a word that came into Middle English through Anglo-Norman French and ultimately from Latin mons, meaning “hill” or “mountain.” In surnames, Mount usually named someone who lived by a prominent hill, mound, or raised place, and the final -s may be a plural or later surname variant. In some cases, -s surnames can also reflect older possessive or regional spelling habits rather than a separate meaning.
History
The base surname Mount is old in English records and is well established as a topographic name. Mounts is a less common variant, especially in the United States, and may have developed as a family spelling distinct from Mount rather than from a separate original name. Because the historical excerpts provided do not actually discuss Mounts directly, this entry is a cautious reconstruction from the broader surname pattern.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root behind Mount also appears in words like mountain and in many place names built around hills or raised ground.
From the historical record
“TIPPER (Eng.) Header, Pointer, Mounter (one who furnished articles with metal tips or mounts) [M.E. tipper{e, f. M.E. tip, a tip, with the agent, suff. -er{e ; Teut.] Henry le Tipper. — Hund. Rolls, A.D. 1274.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)