Frequency: (317)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Probably one of several variants of English Halton or Alton, but it could also be an altered form of English Altham, which is a habitational name from Altham in Whalley, Lancashire, named in Old English as ‘river meadow (hamm) of the swans (elfitu)’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
