Troughton

This is an English surname. It is locational from the village of Troughton, near Ulverston, in the county of Lancashire, or sometimes from the village of Trotton in Sussex. Both have the same translation and derive from the Olde English pre 7th century 'Traett tun' meaning the farm of Traett, the latter being a pre Domesday personal name meaning 'defiant'. Locational surnames are 'from' names. That is to say names usually given to people after they left their original village to move somewhere else. Spelling over the centuries being at best indifferent, often lead to the development of 'sounds like' spellings. In this case this would seem to be Troughton, Trotton, Trighton and even Trittam. Early examples of recordings include William Trogton at St Mary's church, Ulverston, in 1547, Ann Troughton also of Ulverston, in the Wills Register of Richmond, in 1584, Mary Trittam who was christened at St James Clerkenwell, in the city of London in 1624, whilst in 1742 James Throughton married Miss Middleton at St Georges Chapel, Mayfair. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.