Atherton

English

Alternative forms

• (surname): Atterton, Eatherton, Etherton

Etymology

From the Old English personal name Æþelhere + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

Proper noun

Atherton (countable and uncountable, plural Athertons)

1. (uncountable) A placename:
   1. A town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England (OS grid ref SD6703).
   2. A town in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia.
   3. A town in San Mateo County, California, United States.
2. (countable) A habitational surname from Old English.

Derived terms

• Athertonian
• Jiles-Atherton model

 

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Atherton is the 5382^nd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 6466 individuals. Atherton is most common among White (92.16%) individuals.

References

• Mills, David (1976) “Directory of Place Names”, in The Place Names of Lancashire, London: Batsford Books, →ISBN

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Atherton”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 1, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 66.