Frequency: (482)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
English: habitational name from either of two places called Walworth, in Greater London and County Durham, both named with Old English w(e)alh ‘Briton’, genitive plural wala (see Wallace) + worð ‘enclosure’. The present-day concentration of the name in Yorkshire suggests the latter is the more likely source. Compare Wallwork.
FOREBEARS: A William Walworth of London came to New London, CT, in 1689.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
