Euston

Recorded as Euston, Ewstan, Eustan, Eustone, and possibly others, this is an English surname. It is locational from Euston. This is not the famous railway station in London, but a small village in the county of Suffolk. First recorded as 'Eustuna' in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, it is said that the name means 'The place on the bank of a river', from the pre 7th century 'effs' meaning a river. However as the region of East Anglia including the county of Suffolk, is criss-crossed with rivers between lakes, this seems to be almost too logical an explanation, as the name could have been applied everywhere. A second possible translation is that of 'Eofs-tun' with Eof being an Olde English personal name, and hence probably the Anglo-Saxon lord of the manor of Euston. The surname is well recorded in the surviving church registers of the city of London from Elizabethan times. This is not surprising in that locational surnames tend to be 'from' names, or names given to people after they left their original homes, and moved somewhere else. Originally they would have been known as John of Euston or whatever, the of or de being usually dropped. Recordings include Jane Euston who married Thomas Taylor by special licence in the city of London, on February 10th 1587, whilst in Suffolk itself the name is well recorded in the village of Buxhall, but not before 1839 according to the International Genealogical Index. If true this which suggests that early registers may have been lost.