Colten History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The ancestors of the bearers of the Colten family name are thought have lived in ancient Anglo-Saxon England. They were first found in Colton. There are places named Colton in Staffordshire, Norfolk and North Yokshire. Although the Staffordshire origin is more common some families' names are derived from the Norfolk location.

Early Origins of the Colten family

The surname Colten was first found in Colton or Coulton, located in Staffordshire, North Yorkshire, Norfolk and Cumbria. The places had a variety of listings in the Domesday Book including Coletuna 1, Coletune (North Yorkshire) and Coltone (Staffordshire.) However, the meaning of the place names were essentially the same: "farmstead of a man called Cola or Koli" having derived from the Old English or Old Scandinavian personal name + tun. 2 The Cumbria placename was originally listed as Coleton in 1202, but its origins may have been much earlier.

One of the first records of the family was John Colton (d. 1404), Archbishop of Armagh, "said to have been born at Terrington in Norfolk. He was chaplain to William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich, who may have introduced him to Edmond Gonville, the founder of Caius and Gonville College, Cambridge, of which he was appointed the first master in 1348. " 3

Early History of the Colten family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Colten research. Another 116 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1126, 1235, 1296, 1320, 1371 and 1404 are included under the topic Early Colten History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Colten Spelling Variations

Until quite recently, the English language has lacked a definite system of spelling rules. Consequently, Anglo-Saxon surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. Changes in Anglo-Saxon names were influenced by the evolution of the English language, as it incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other languages. Although Medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, so it is common to find one person referred to by several different spellings of his surname, even the most literate people varied the spelling of their own names. Variations of the name Colten include Colton, Coulton and others.

Early Notables of the Colten family

Another 39 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Colten Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Colten family to Ireland

Some of the Colten family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 30 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Colten migration to the United States +

Searching for a better life, many English families migrated to British colonies. Unfortunately, the majority of them traveled under extremely harsh conditions: overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the ocean. For those families that arrived safely, modest prosperity was attainable, and many went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the new colonies. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Colten or a variant listed above:

Colten Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Jonathan Colten, who landed in New England in 1752 4

Citations +

Page, William (ed), A History of the County of Norfolk. London: Victoria County History, 1906. Print
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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)