Recorded in the spellings of Allerton, and occasionally Ollerton, this is an English surname. It is locational from any of the various places so called including Allerton in Lancashire, Chapel Allerton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and Ollerton in Cheshire, Nottinghamshire, and Shropshire. The Yorkshire Allerton is recorded as "Alretune" in the Domesday Book of 1086, from the Olde English pre 7th Century "alra", meaning alder (tress), and "tun", an enclosure or settlement. Allerton Maulever in West Yorkshire, entered as "Alureton" in the 1086 Domesday Book, and Chapel Allerton have as their component elements the personal name "Aelfweard", meaning elf-guardian", and "tun" as before. The Ollertons all describe a settlement in the alder trees, and all appear in the 1086 Domesday Book. Locational surnames were given either to the lord of the manor, but more usually as a means of identification to those who left their birthplace to settle elsewhere. Isaac Allerton (1586 - 1658) was one of the most influential of the Pilgrim Fathers who sailed on the "Mayflower" to the New World in 1620. His descendants included Samuel Allertun (1828 - 1914), one of the founders of modern Chicago. The first recording may be that of Johannes de Allerton, which was dated 1379, in the "Poll Tax" returns of Yorkshire, whilst Mary Ollerton was recorded at Edwinstone, Nottinghamshire on August 16th 1671. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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