Thornton Family Crest, Coat of Arms & Thornton Name Origin

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Origin of the Name Thornton

The ancient history of the name Thornton was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. Thornton is a locational name from Bradford, in Yorkshire, and the lands of Thornton in the Mearns. This name is of Anglo-Celtic origin and is found throughout England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is found in many mediaeval manuscripts in these countries. Examples of such are a Roger de Thorntone, County Cambridgeshire, who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England, in the year 1273. A George Thorneton and Johanna Alondon were granted a marriage license, in London in the year 1570. In Scotland an early record of the name refers to a Laurence de Thorneton, who was witness to a deed by Henry, Abbot of Arbroath, in the year 1204. A John of Thornton was Burgess of Montrose in the year 1296. In Ireland a Matthew Thornton, 1714-1803, was a signatory of the American Declaration of Independence, he being a medical doctor from the North of Ireland. Some Thorntons in Ulster Province in Ireland were introduced by settlers from England and Scotland during the seventeenth century. Thornton has also been used as a variant of several Gaelic names including Drennan, Skehan, Meenagh and Tarrant.