Benton

See also: bentón, and bent on

English

Etymology

From either Old English bēan (“bean”) or *beonet (“bentgrass”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

Proper noun

Benton (countable and uncountable, plural Bentons)

1. A small village in Bratton Fleming parish, North Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SS6536).
2. A neighbourhood in the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England (OS grid ref NZ2768).
3. A number of places in the United States:
   1. A city, the county seat of Saline County, Arkansas.
   2. A census-designated place in Mono County, California.
   3. A city, the county seat of Franklin County, Illinois.
   4. A home rule city, the county seat of Marshall County, Kentucky.
   5. A town, the parish seat of Bossier Parish, Louisiana.
   6. A small city, the county seat of Scott County, Missouri.
   7. A town, the county seat of Polk County, Tennessee.
4. A habitational surname from Old English.
5. A male given name transferred from the surname.

Derived terms

• Benton County
• Fort Benton

 

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Benton is the 912^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 37,912 individuals. Benton is most common among White (69.00%) and Black (24.95%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Benton”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 1, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 139.

Anagrams

• bonnet