Righton Family History

from Ryton on Dunsmore (Warwicks) and occasionally from Ryton (Shrops) both of which are recorded as Ruyton in the 14th and 15th century. The place-names derive from Old English rȳge ‘rye’ + tūn ‘farmstead estate’. Redmonds shows that the S Yorks name is from East Rigton in Bardsey parish (WR Yorks) recorded both as Rigton or Rygton (12th century to 17th century) and as Righton or Ryghton (13th century to 16th century). He notes that vacillation between -g- and -gh- spellings occurs in surname forms up to the late 17th century citing Thomas Rigton George Reighton 1672 in Hearth Tax (Clifford WR Yorks). The place-name derives from Old Scandinavian hryggr ‘ridge’ + Old English tūn ‘farmstead estate’. Derivation from Reighton (ER Yorks) is a theoretical alternative for surnames recorded in York and ER Yorks but there is no evidence to confirm this or for derivation from Ryton in Durham or in NR Yorks.

Source: The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, 2016