English: habitational name from any of the various places so
called. The majority, with examples in at least fourteen counties, get
the name from Old English hoh ‘ridge’, ‘spur’ (literally
‘heel’) + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’. Haughton in
Nottinghamshire also has this origin, and may have contributed to the
surname. A smaller group of Houghtons, with examples in Lancashire and
South Yorkshire, have as their first element Old English halh
‘nook’, ‘recess’. In the case of isolated examples in Devon and East
Yorkshire, the first elements appear to be unattested Old English
personal names or bynames, of which the forms approximate to
Huhha and Hofa respectively, but the meanings are
unknown.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
846,411
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Houghton
Click on a place to view Houghton immigration records
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry.co.uk.
You can find out where the majority of the Houghton families were living before
they immigrated to the U.S and learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival, and destination.
Click on a circle in the chart to view Houghton emigration records
You can find out when most of the Houghton families immigrated
to the United States.
You can focus your search to emigration records dating from that era.
Emigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival and destination.
Did the Houghtons fight in a war? Military records can tell you a lot
about your ancestors including birthplace, occupation and even physical descriptions.
Starting a family tree at Ancestry is not only the easiest way to organise, preserve
and share your family history, it's also a direct link to missing information about
your roots.