An Scottish, English and Irish surname the Norton family name comes from the Gaelic term ‘Neachdainn’ and ‘Nechtan’. The Old English terms were ‘nora’ and ‘tun’ which refer to a north settlement or village. The name Norton means north town.
Spelling variations for Norton include Notton, Norville, Nortown, Nortone, MacNaughton, MacNechten, Nortun and McNachton. Another English version for Norton is Norrington, which also means someone living north of town. An Irish spelling of Norton is Naughton.

In Yorkshire, Lancashire, the city of London and Lincolnshire in England is where the majority of Norton families live. Additional Nortons live in Essex, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey counties.
In Scotland the early Norton families came from Argyllshire (Ayrshire county). Those families later moved in Lanarkshire, West Lothian and Renfrewshire. Within the United States the Norton families primarily live in New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, Georgia, California, Texas and Alabama.

Famous: Edward Norton (movie film actor), Kenneth Howard Norton (champion boxer and movie film actor), Andre Norton (science fiction writer), George A. Norton (songwriter), Greg Norton (professional baseball player), James Lansdowne Norton (founder of Norton Motorcycle Company), Hiram Norton (19th century merchant and developer of Upper Canada), and Mary Teresa Norton (first Democrat Party female elected to the U. S. House of Representatives).