Whetstone
A locational surname from places called Whetstone, likely meaning “white stone” or “stone castle.”
The #5,721 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,915 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained as coming from one or more places called Whetstone, especially the parish in Leicestershire and a place on the Middlesex/Hertfordshire border. Harrison glossed the place-name as meaning “the white stone” or “stone castle,” though the older elements are not entirely certain. In any case, the surname is locational: it began as a label for someone who came from Whetstone.
History
Bardsley and later surname dictionaries treat Whetstone as an English local name, and the surname is found in London records by the 17th and 18th centuries. Variant spellings such as Wetstone and Wheatstone appear in historical records and are likely influenced by spelling variation rather than a different origin. The name is still uncommon in the United States, but it has a long English surname history.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root name also produced the variant surname Wheatstone in some records, showing how fluid spelling could be before modern standardization.
From the historical record
“WHETHERLY } f"-- WetheHey, q.v. WHETSTONE (Eng.) Bel. to Whetstone = the White Stone or Stone Castle [O.E. hwil + Stan] WHETTON = Whitton, q.v. WHICKER for Wicker, q.v. WHICKHAM for Wickham, q.v. WHIDBURN for Whitburn, q.v. WHIELDON = Wheldon, q.v.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)