The thornton Surname
thornton Name Meaning and History
- English and Scottish: habitational name from any of the numerous places throughout England and Scotland so called, from Old English þorn ‘thorn bush’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.
- Irish: Anglicized (translated) form of Gaelic Mac Sceacháin ‘son of Sceachán’ (see Skehan).
- Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Draighneáin ‘descendant of Draighneán’ (see Drennan).
- Irish: possibly a translated form of Gaelic Ó Muineacháin (see Monahan).
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Learn the meaning and history of your first name
Search for thornton records
More resources for your thornton family history
Thornton message board
Threads: 1653 - Messages: 3894
| Thread | Author | Replies |
| Thorntons in Alabama | Charles Thornton | 5 |
| Another Thornton family story |
 MikeBrown85D06B34-0C5D-42AA-92A3-38FA6BBB19F0
| 0 |
| Family Tree Mathew Thornton | Tom | 44 |
| Hon. Matthew Thornton/brother Samuel 1755 | Susan Kupkowski | 2 |
| Harrison,Lindsay, Rhodam 1830 Pike Co. AL cenus |
JPritchett2
| 6 |
| Did Green Berry Thornton of Parkersburg WVA Born: 1850 have adoptive children? |
pamelathornton82
| 0 |
| THORNTON Larry Gene and Juanita YOUNG |
t42RoseHill
| 0 |
| THORNTON Howard E and Mamie HASHAW |
t42RoseHill
| 0 |
| Thorntons of Grantham, NH |
ChrisHastings51
| 1 |
| The Thornton Family | Maudie Thornton Lumpkin | 8 |
Start your FREE family tree. Who will you discover?
A family tree is the easiest way to start discovering your family history. To begin, just enter whatever you know and we'll use that to try and find more information for you.
Begin your family tree with your name:
The thornton name in History
A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the thornton family name as far back in history as possible.
Member Connections
- Anonymously contact one of the Ancestry members researching the thornton last name.
- Search for Ancestry members researching one of your specific ancestors.
- Create or update your own Ancestry member profile so that other members can anonymously contact you.
More Tools and Resources
- Search Ancestry.com for all of your thornton ancestors.
- Create and publish your own family history book using Ancestry Press.
- Learn more about your family history using DNA Ancestry.
- Learn more about family history in the Ancestry Learning Center.
- Visit the Ancestry.com homepage.