Sexton Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Sexton last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Sexton last name
Meaning of the Sexton last name: sacristan, or descendant of Seasnán. The Sexton surname has two sources. In England it meant a sexton, the church officer who cared for sacred vessels and vestments. In Ireland it is an English form of Ó Seasnáin, a family of Thomond, and the last name appears in Limerick city in the early 1500s. A curious detail of this family name meaning: it is still most common in Limerick and Clare.
Arms associated with the Sexton name
Irish coats of arms often carry a motto in Irish or Latin, and the heraldry associated with the Sexton surname shares that habit.
Get your full Sexton family history
This is only a glimpse of the Sexton story. The full Sexton history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Sexton coat of arms. Get the full Sexton report.
Sexton name FAQ
What does the Sexton name mean?
Sacristan, or descendant of Seasnán. Common variants include Sextone, Saxton, Sexten.
Where does the Sexton surname come from?
It originates in Ireland, and is also found in the United States, England and Australia.
Is there a Sexton coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Sexton coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: Patrick Woulfe, Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames (1923); Reaney & Wilson, Dictionary of English Surnames; MacLysaght, The Surnames of Ireland.