Frequency: (2202)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. English: habitational name from either of two places called Caton, in Derbyshire and Lancashire. The former is probably named with the Old English personal name or byname Cada (see Cade) + Old English tūn ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’; the latter is from the Old Norse byname Káti (see Cates) + tūn.
2. English and French: from a pet form of Catlin.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
