Settles
An English surname that is most likely a variant of Settle, the place name and surname meaning someone from Settle, Yorkshire.
The #5,656 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,309 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Settles is best explained as a spelling variant of Settle, a surname taken from the town of Settle in Yorkshire. The place-name is usually linked to Old English roots referring to a fold, shelter, or dwelling place, though the exact early form is not certain. The added -s is a common surname ending or later spelling variation rather than a separate meaning.
History
The surname appears in forms that overlap with Settle and other local-spelling variants, especially in English records and later in North America. Bardsley’s discussion of place-name surnames is relevant context, but the excerpts provided do not give a direct headword treatment of Settles itself. In the United States, Settles is established but relatively uncommon.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The -s ending in surnames often looks plural, but in many cases it is just a later spelling habit or family variation, not a separate original name.
From the historical record
“I once noticed in a magazine article a doubt thrown on the antiquity of Four and Twenty Blackbirds, on account of the line ' The King was in his Counting- house,' stating that it was a modem term. The following entry settles that matter : Nicholas del Countvnghouse, Issue Rolls, 4 Ric. II. While on this subject, we…”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances