Hilton Family History

English (Lancashire): habitational name from any of various places called Hilton (e.g. in Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, North Yorkshire, and Westmorland), most of which derive from Old English hyll ‘hill’ + tūn ‘farmstead, estate’, though some come from Old English helde ‘slope’ + tūn. Occasionally, as in the case of Ralph filius Hilton (Yorkshire 1219), perhaps from the personal name Hilton itself a possible form of Norman Hildun, composed of the ancient Germanic elements hild ‘strife, battle’ + hūn ‘bear cub’.

Compare Hilt. This English surname is present in Ireland, mainly taken to Ulster in the early 17th century, though recorded earlier in Dublin.