Eaton

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A surname of English origin, or the name of one of several villages and estates in England
2. An English family name, also borne by various English villages, parishes and country houses
3. A proper name of English origin used for people and for several places across England

Etymology: Eaton is a place-name before it is anything else. It combines Old English "ea", meaning river, with "tun", a homestead or enclosure, so the name describes a settlement beside a river. Many English villages carry this name, and over centuries those place-names became hereditary surnames, passed down by people who had once lived near the water or on an island. Eaton shares its roots with Eton, the town on the Thames near Windsor. The two are doublets: the same Old English elements, worn down in different ways in different places, leaving two forms of one name. Eton is the one most people know, through its famous school, while Eaton survives mainly as a surname and as the name of scattered English villages.