Walston
A surname probably tied to a place-name, most likely meaning someone from a settlement or estate called Walston.
The #6,011 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 53,967 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Walston is most likely a locational surname, taken from a place called Walston. English place-names of this type commonly combine an old personal name or descriptive element with Old English "tūn," meaning an enclosed farm, estate, or settlement. In this case, the first element is uncertain from the evidence at hand, so the surname is best treated as a name from a place rather than a clearly settled word-for-word meaning.
History
The provided excerpts show Walston as a place-name connected with a Devon family context, but they do not explain the surname’s own formation in detail. As with many English surnames, it likely arose when people were identified by the place they came from or held land in. The name is relatively uncommon today and survives mainly in Britain and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One of the historical excerpts places a person named Lethbridge as being born at Walston near Okehampton, showing the name in use as a local place designation rather than only as a surname.
From the historical record
“William Baillie, his son .and heir, and John Baillie, of whom descended' the Baillics of St. Jolm's Kirk, Lanarkshire, of whom are come the Baillies of Jeri'iswood and Walston. Sir William Baillie, the eldest son, m:irried his cousin Eli- jabeth, daughter and one of the heirs of line of John Lord Linds.ay of the…”
— The Scottish Nation; or, the surnames, families ... of the people of Scotland, vol. 1