The following is from a book titled: *A Dictionary of Surnames* (Hanks & Hodges), which is one of the most scholarly works I've found, and which is also recommended by our Webmaster,
Mike C.:
Egerton. English: habitation name from places in
Kent and Cheshire. The former is so called from Old English *Ecgheardingtun* "settlement (Old English *tun*) associated with *Ecgheard*; the second, which is the main source of the surname, is more likely to have been named as the settlement of *Ecghere* (in which the second element is Old English *here* "army").
Variations: Eggerton, Edgerton.
Bearers of this name, including the
Duke of Sutherland and the
Earl of Wilton, are descended from
David, Sheriff of
Chester in the reign of
Henry III (1216-72). His son,
Philip, was the first in the family to be known by the surname, derived from lands in Cheshire which he acquired from Urian de Egerton.
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Nanaea