Sexton Family History

English: occupational name for a sexton or churchwarden from Middle English sextein(e) ‘sexton’ (Old French secrestein medieval Latin sacristanus). The sexton was originally the officer of a church in charge of the sacred vessels and vestments but later came to denote one who looked after the churchyard and dug graves.

English: in northern England a variant of Saxton. English: possibly a habitational name from Sexton in Ermington (Devon) recorded as Shecoteston in 1329. The placename derives from the family of Richard Sheccoc recorded at Sexton in 1199 + Middle English toun ‘farmstead, village, settlement’.

The origin of Richard Sheccoc's name is uncertain due to confusion between c and t, as seen in the name of one of his descendants, Richard Scheccote, recorded at Sexton in 133.

Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Seastnáin ‘descendant of Seastnán, Seasnán’, a personal name meaning ‘bodyguard’ from seasuighim ‘to resist, to defend’.

The English surname was also established in Ireland, where the rare surname McAtackney may represent a part-translation of ‘son of the Sexton’ into Irish.