Norton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Scotland

Etymology of Norton

What does the name Norton mean?

In ancient Scotland, the ancestors of the Norton family were part of a tribe called the Picts. The name Norton is derived from the Pictish name Nechtan. The Gaelic form of the name is Mac Neachdainn, which means son of Nechtan.

Early Origins of the Norton family

The surname Norton was first found in Argyllshire (Gaelic erra Ghaidheal), the region of western Scotland corresponding roughly with the ancient Kingdom of Dál Riata, in the Strathclyde region of Scotland, now part of the Council Area of Argyll and Bute, where they held lands at Lochow and Loch Fyne, called Glenera, Glenshira, and Glen Fyne.

Early History of the Norton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Norton research. Another 193 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1247, 1431, 1438, 1565, 1614, 1627 and 1691 are included under the topic Early Norton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Norton Spelling Variations

The arts of spelling and translation were yet in their infancies when surnames began, so there are an enormous number of spelling variations of the names in early Scottish records. This is a particular problem with Scottish names because of the numerous times a name might have been loosely translated to English from Gaelic and back. Norton has been spelled MacNaughton, McNachton, MacNaghten, MacNechten, Notton, Norton and many more.

Early Notables of the Norton family

Notable amongst the Clan at this time was

Norton of Athlone Castle

Norton World Ranking

In the United States, the name Norton is the 466^th most popular surname with an estimated 59,688 people with that name. 1 However, in Australia, the name Norton is ranked the 397^th most popular surname with an estimated 9,354 people with that name. 2 And in New Zealand, the name Norton is the 404^th popular surname with an estimated 1,627 people with that name. 3 The United Kingdom ranks Norton as 474^th with 13,618 people. 4

Migration of the Norton family to Ireland

Some of the Norton family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Norton migration to the United States +

This oppression forced many Scots to leave their homelands. Most of these chose North America as their destination. Although the journey left many sick and poor, these immigrants were welcomed the hardy with great opportunity. Many of these settlers stood up for their newfound freedom in the American War of Independence. More recently, Scots abroad have recovered much of their collective heritage through highland games and other patriotic functions and groups. An examination of passenger and immigration lists has located various settlers bearing the name Norton:

Norton Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Norton, who arrived in Jamestown, Va in 1608 aboard the ship "Second Supply" 5
Francis Norton, who arrived in New Hampshire in 1630 5
Francis Norton, who landed in New England in 1631 5
Walter Norton, who landed in New England in 1631 5
William Norton, who landed in New England in 1631 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Norton Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Eliza Norton, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 5
Teague Norton, who landed in Virginia in 1701 5
Elizabeth Norton, who landed in Virginia in 1718 5
Hannah Norton, who settled in Maryland in 1725
John Norton, who landed in Virginia in 1777 5

Norton Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Norton, who landed in America in 1800 5
Mary Norton, who arrived in America in 1807 5
B H Norton, who arrived in Mobile, Ala in 1822 5
E S Norton, who arrived in Mobile, Ala in 1822 5
Patrick Norton, who arrived in Mississippi in 1844 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Norton migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Norton Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

William Norton, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1750
Mr. Elias Norton U.E. who settled in Parr Town, Saint John, New Brunswick c. 1784 6

Norton Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Caleb Norton, who landed in Canada in 1828
Henry R Norton, who arrived in Canada in 1830
Andrew K Norton, who arrived in Canada in 1831
Sally Norton, aged 18, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the brig "Sea Horse" from Galway, Ireland
Mr. James Norton, aged 4 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Blonde" departing from the port of Liverpool, England but died on Grosse Isle in June 1847 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Norton migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Norton Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Norton, English convict who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Countess of Harcourt" on 29th April 1828, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 8
Mr. John Norton who was convicted in Surrey, England for 7 years for murder, transported aboard the "Camden" on 21st March 1831, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 9
Mr. Patrick Norton, (b. 1804), aged 27, English farmers man who was convicted in Lancaster, Lancashire, England for 7 years for manslaughter, transported aboard the "Exmouth" on 3rd March 1831, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 10
Henry Norton, English convict from Norfolk, who was transported aboard the "Andromeda" on November 13, 1832, settling in New South Wales, Australia 11
Mr. Michael Norton, British Convict who was convicted in Lancaster, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Asia" on 5th November 1835, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land)1836 12
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Norton migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Norton Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. John Norton, (b. 1792), aged 55, Irish settler arriving as Detachment of the Royal New Zealand Fencibles travelling aboard the ship "Sir Robert Sale" from Gravesend via Cork arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 11th October 1847 13
Mr. James Norton, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Kingston" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 29th December 1858 14
Miss Mary Norton, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Derwent Water" arriving in Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand on 26th November 1861 14
John Norton, who arrived in Lyttelton, New Zealand aboard the ship "Blue Jacket" in 1865
Matilda Norton, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Empress" in 1865
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Norton migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 15

Norton Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Mr. George Norton, (b. 1613), aged 22, British settler travelling from London, England aboard the ship "Alexander" arriving in Barbados in 1635 16

Contemporary Notables of the name Norton (post 1700) +

Kenneth Howard "Ken" Norton (1943-2013), American boxer, and film actor, Heavyweight boxing champion (WBC) in 1978
Eleanor Holmes Norton (b. 1937), American lawyer, government official, professor of law, Georgetown University, (1982-)
Augustus Richard Norton (1946-2019), American army officer and professor of international relations and anthropology at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University
Richard Eugene "Rick" Norton (1943-2013), American collegiate and AFL professional football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins (1966â€“1969)
Peter Norton (b. 1943), American programmer, software publisher, author, and philanthropist
Edward Norton (b. 1969), American film actor
Greg Norton (b. 1959), American musician, bassist for Minnesota punk band Hüsker Dü
William Elliot Norton (1903-2003), American drama critic
Charles Eliot Norton (1827-1908), American scholar and teacher, professor of the history of art at Harvard (1875-98)
John Norton, Iroquois chief born of a Cherokee father and a Scottish mother, who fought for the British side against the Americans in the war of 1812
... (Another 114 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Norton family +

Halifax Explosion

Mrs. Sarah L. Norton (1845-1917), Canadian resident from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who died in the Halifax Explosion (1917) 17

HMAS Sydney II

Mr. John Thomas Henry Norton (1905-1941), Australian Leading Stoker from Redfern, New South Wales, Australia, who sailed into battle aboard HMAS Sydney II and died in the sinking 18
Mr. Montague Alfred Huxley Norton (1907-1941), Australian Engine Room Artificer 4th Class from Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia, who sailed into battle aboard HMAS Sydney II and died in the sinking 18
Mr. William Frederick Cecil Norton (1908-1941), Australian Able Seaman from Glebe, New South Wales, Australia, who sailed into battle aboard HMAS Sydney II and died in the sinking 18

HMS Prince of Wales

Mr. P Norton, British Mechanician, who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales (1941) and survived the sinking 19
Mr. Norton, British Ordinary Seaman, who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales (1941) and survived the sinking 19

RMS Lusitania

Mr. Bernard Patrick Norton, Irish Fireman from Althone, County Westmeath, Ireland, who worked aboard the RMS Lusitania (1915) and died in the sinking 20

The Norton Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: I hope in God

Sources +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Most Common Last Names in Australia." Forebears, https://forebears.io/australia/surnames
"Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 50)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 19th April 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/countess-of-harcourt
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 2nd December 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/camden
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 25th May 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/exmouth
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2014, November 27) Andromeda voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1832 with 186 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/andromeda/1832
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 28th January 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/asia/1835
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's retrieved 28th September 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
Halifax Explosion Book of Remembrance | Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. (Retrieved 2014, June 23) . Retrieved from https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/what-see-do/halifax-explosion/halifax-explosion-book-remembrance
HMAS Sydney II, Finding Sydney Foundation - Roll of Honour. (Retrieved 2014, April 24) . Retrieved from http://www.findingsydney.com/roll.asp
HMS Prince of Wales Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listprincecrew.html
Lusitania Passenger List - The Lusitania Resource. (Retrieved 2014, March 7) . Retrieved from http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania-passenger-list/