A look at the history and meaning behind the Melton Surname.

The family name of Melton is believed to be descended originally from the Norman race. They were more accurately of viking origin.
The surname Melton emerged as a notable family name in the county of Norfolk and Yorkshire.
Other villages in the surrounding area were known as Great Melton, Little Melton,Melton Mowbray and Melton Ross.
There are a recorded 26 parishes in the UK that either now or at one time have had the name Melton in one form or another.

One John de Melton is recorded in Norfolk in 1273, Nicholas of Melton in Yorkshire and Adam Meltone in suffolk at around the same time, later there was Ricardus Melton in Yorshire in 1379.

It is believed, and we must add not proved, that the name is descended from the Norman Knight, Roger longsword(sounds like a made up name) however, It was he who held the village of Melton Constable in Norfolk and some think therefore adopted the name.

We have found that the Name Melton has possibly been spelt in numerous ways, such as, Milton, Melton,Molton,Mylton,Meltun, and a lot of different other ways.
It is not known if the town got its name from a resident or if the resident got his name from the town, however, it is known that it was not uncommon to use the persons first name and then the name of the village or town from where they came when addressing them.

When looking at the very many ways in which the name was spelled, it is worth bearing in mind that literacy was not a common thing in those days, this could quite easily account for the different spellings.

Another meaning that we have come across is one that acompanied our research of the family crest, again when it came to the crest we found two different ones, however both are very close.
This meaning is written as follows, The english surname of Melton is of local origin, belonging to that category of named based on places, dwellings or land that the bearer once lived.
The place name Melton derives from an old english term meaning Middle Farm. so there we have it, two different explanations, its up to you which one you believe to be fact.