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
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