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Paxton History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Paxton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

Early Origins of the Paxton family

The surname Paxton was first found in the ancient county of Berwickshire, now an administrative area of the Scottish Borders region, home of Paxton House, a historic house built between 1758 and 1766. This was the former seat of the Paxton family and is now open to the public as a Partner Gallery of the National Galleries of Scotland. Great Paxton and Little Paxton are villages in the ancient county of Huntingdonshire, now part of Cambridgeshire. Both villages have kept relatively small over the years, but trace back to the Domesday Book where they were listed as Pachstone and literally meant "farmstead of a man called Paecc" from the Old English personal name + tun. 1

Early History of the Paxton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Paxton research. Another 117 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1304, 1350, 1400 and 1780 are included under the topic Early Paxton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Paxton Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Paxton, Paxson, Paxon and others.

Early Notables of the Paxton family

Notable amongst the family name during their early history was

John Paxton (died 1780), painter, appears to have been of Scottish origin, and to have been a student in Foulis's art academy at Glasgow...

Paxton Ranking

In the United States, the name Paxton is the 2,467^th most popular surname with an estimated 12,435 people with that name. 2

Paxton migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Paxton Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Henry Paxton, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1682 3

Paxton Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Robert Paxton, who landed in Virginia in 1709 3
William Paxton, who settled in Charles Town [Charleston], South Carolina in 1719
Charles Paxton, who settled in Boston with his wife, and servants in 1767

Paxton Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Paxton, aged 12, who arrived in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1802 3
Alexander Paxton, aged 9, who arrived in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1802 3
Eleizer Paxton, aged 4, who landed in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1802 3
R Paxton, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 3
Jean Paxton, who landed in America in 1852 3

Paxton migration to Australia +

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

Paxton Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Joseph Paxton, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Candahar" in 1851 4

Paxton 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:

Paxton Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

David W. Paxton, aged 18, a blacksmith, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Durham" in 1873 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Paxton (post 1700) +

Steven Douglas Paxton (1939-2024), American experimental dancer and choreographer
Gary Sanford Paxton (1939-2016), born Larry Wayne Stevens, an American Grammy and Dove Award winning record producer, recording artist, best known for producing the "Monster Mash"
William "Bill" Paxton (1955-2017), American Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominated actor and film director, known for his roles in The Terminator (1984), Weird Science (1985), Aliens (1986), Predator 2 (1990), True Lies (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), and Titanic (1997)
Major-General Alexander Gallatin Paxton (1896-1974), American Commanding General 48th Divison (1948) 6
Thomas Richard "Tom" Paxton (b. 1937), American folk singer and songwriter awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009
Sara Paxton (b. 1988), Emmy Award-nominated American actress
Robert O. Paxton (b. 1932), American Rhodes Scholar, political scientist, and historian
Lieutenant General John M. Paxton Jr. (b. 1951), American Marine Corps general officer
John Paxton (1911-1985), award winning American screenwriter
Cos. Paxton, American Democratic Party politician, Member of North Carolina State Senate 37th District, 1915-16 7
... (Another 25 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) CANDAHAR 1851. Retrieved http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1851Candahar.htm
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 9th November 2011). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2014, March 26) Alexander Paxton. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Paxton/Alexander_Gallatin/USA.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 22) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html