Kirton

English

Alternative forms

• (surname): Kerton

Etymology

From Old English ċiriċe (“church”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”). Doublet of Cheriton. The alteration of /tʃ/ to /k/ is down to Old Norse influence.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɜːtn̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɝtn̩/, [ˈkɝʔn̩]
• Homophone: curtain
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tən

Proper noun

Kirton (countable and uncountable, plural Kirtons)

1. A village and civil parish in Boston borough, Lincolnshire, England (OS grid ref TF3038).
2. A village in Nottinghamshire, England.
3. A village near Felixstowe in East Suffolk district, Suffolk, England (OS grid ref TM2739).
4. A habitational surname from Old English.

Derived terms

• Kirton in Lindsey

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Kirton is the 16150^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 1791 individuals. Kirton is most common among White (49.19%) and Black/African American (41.49%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Kirton”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 311.