Broughton (/ˈbrɔːtən/) is an English surname and placename. It has two claimed origins as a name.

As a placename

According to M. Leon Broughton, author of Broughton Memoirs (Copyright 1962, Second Edition):[1]

"The name Broughton is often derived from the Saxon “Broc”, which means brook or broken land; and “Tun”, the dwelling or town. In King Ethelred’s charter to the monastery of Shaftesbury, England, 1001 AD, Elfwig’s boundaries at Broctun are mentioned. The Domesday Book of William the Conqueror, 1086 AD, describes thirty-four manors of Broctun, variously Latinized by the clerks of the records to: Brochthon, Brocton, Brotton, Broton, Brogton, and Broughton, perhaps according to the pronunciation peculiar to the localities where the manors where situated.

Later the spelling of Broughton seems to have generally been adopted. There are about twenty distinct parishes besides hamlets and different localities in England that bear the name; and it is locally applied to a small parish in Canada, to an island in the Alatamaha river in Georgia, and also occurs in the states of South Carolina, Texas, and some of the New England states. The Broughtons are now widespread throughout the United States, and the world."

Broughton may also come from an Old English word meaning 'stronghold'. It is also likely to be derived from “berg” (a hill), and “ton” (a town), both Saxon words.

This is the case in Lincolnshire, England. At this Broughton, the mound is near the west end of the village and may have been the site of a Roman station Pretorium from about 400 AD. Many Roman coins, bricks, tiles and other artifacts have been found in the area. In the Domesday Book of 1086, the name appears as Bertone. [A Dictionary of English Place-Names, A. D. Mills, Oxford University Press, 1991]

Places

Broughton as a surname

People

Broughton is the surname (or family name) of many notable people:

Peerage

It is also used as part of the title of some British Peers and baronets.

Fictional characters

References

  1. ↑ Milton Leon Broughton (1962). Broughton Memoirs.
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