Ashton

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A town or city in England, most commonly referring to locations in Lancashire or Greater Manchester
2. A settlement in England known by this name, such as Ashton-under-Lyne or Ashton-in-Makerfield
3. An English place name borne by several villages and towns, particularly in the North of England

Etymology: "Ashton" is a place-name in origin before it was ever a personal name. It combines Old English "æsc", meaning ash tree, with "tūn", an old word for an enclosure or settlement, so the sense is roughly "farmstead by the ash trees." The same pattern produced many English place-names, and the "-ton" ending in particular marks a settlement, the forerunner of the modern "town." Over time, names of this kind were taken on as surnames by people who came from or held land at such places, and the surname later became a given name. The name's meaning is therefore a literal description of a landscape, not of a person, which is typical of English surnames of this type.