Show ContentsCarthon History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Carthon is an Anglo-Saxon name. The name was originally given to a person who builds carts. Another alternative origin of this surname is guard which is derived from the Old English word Caretarius or Carda. 1 2

The Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae listed William Cartier, of Normandy, 1195 and Ralph Caretarius, of Winchester, 1148. 3

Early Origins of the Carthon family

The surname Carthon was first found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 where Jocius Caretarius, Oxfordshire; Juliana le Cartere, Cambridgeshire; Nicholas le Carter, Oxfordshire; John le Cartere, Norfolk; Robert le Caretter, Huntingdonshire; and Margaret le Careter, Huntingdonshire were all listed, some still in their Latin form of the name. 4

The name is "well distributed over England. It is best represented in Cheshire and Essex, and afterwards in Cambridgeshire, Devon, and Sussex." 5

By the 15th and 16th centuries, the family was also found in Scotland. "James Cartare witness in Edinburgh, 1439. Hob Carter was a tenant on lands of the Abbey of Kelso, 1567." 6

Early History of the Carthon family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Carthon research. Another 96 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1250, 1530, 1534, 1540, 1553, 1554, 1584, 1590, 1605, 1608, 1617, 1619, 1635, 1637, 1642, 1648, 1654, 1655, 1656, 1660, 1668, 1672, 1676, 1684, 1735, 1745, 1751, 1769 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Carthon History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Carthon Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Carthon has appeared include Carter, Carters and others.

Early Notables of the Carthon family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Oliver Carter (1540?-1605), English divine, probably a native of that part of Richmondshire which is in the county of Lancaster.Peter Carter (1530?-1590), was a writer on logic, a native of Lancashire, and took the degree of B.A. at St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1553-1534. William Carter (d. 1584), was a printer, son of John Carter, a draper of London. John Carter the Elder (1554-1635), was an English divine, born at Wickham, Kent, in 1554, educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge.John Carter the Younger (d. 1655), was also a divine, born in his father's parish...
Another 171 words (12 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Carthon Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Carthon family to Ireland

Some of the Carthon family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 111 words (8 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Carthon family

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Carthon arrived in North America very early: Ambrose Carter, who settled in Virginia in 1663; Thomas Carter and his wife Frances, who came to Philadelphia in 1685 with their children Thomas, Henry, Ann, and John, Chris Carter, who immigrated to St. John's, Newfoundland in 1705.


Contemporary Notables of the name Carthon (post 1700) +

  • Reggie Carthon (b. 1971), American-born, Canadian Football League defensive back for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
  • Arandric Kornell "Ran" Carthon (b. 1981), former American college and professional football player
  • Maurice Carthon (b. 1961), American National Football League coach


  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
  3. The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
  4. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  5. Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
  6. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)


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