This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

Re: Morton => Merton => Mutton
in reply to a message by Anon.
morton is a surname that originated in scotland, but there are many place names of 'Morton', however they are all in england and scotland.
vote up1vote down

Replies

There is in fact also a place called Morton in La Vienne, France.
But I noticed that the English surname Morton is usually explained as deriving from an English placename, where Mor = marsh, fen, moor, and tun = enclosure, settlement.
Nevertheless, it is also confidently asserted by some that Morton is an anglicized form of Mortain, a great baronial family founded in England by Robert, Earl of Mortaine, uterine brother of William the Conqueror.
Perhaps it has more than one origin.
vote up1vote down