This unusual name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a variant form of the locational surname 'Houghton', which derives from any one of the various places so called in at least fourteen English counties. Most of the places, recorded variously in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Houstone', 'Hoctune' and 'Hohtune', are named with the Old English pre 7th Century elements 'hoh', ridge, spur, and 'tun', enclosure, settlement, thus, 'the village on the ridge'. Other places called 'Houghton' in Lancashire and Yorkshire, are named from the Old English 'halh', nook or recess, with 'tun', as before, while 'Houghton' in Devonshire and another in East Yorkshire are named from the Old English personal names or bynames 'Huhha' and 'Hofa' respectively. Locational surnames were usually given to the lord of the manor, and to those former inhabitants who moved to another area and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. In such cases, dialectal differences and phonetic spelling produced many variant forms of the original name, and 'Hudghton' is an example of these. One Sarah Hudghton married Robert Young in London in October 1716. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Hohton, which was dated 1115, The Winton Rolls, Hampshire, during the reign of King Henry 1, 'The Lion of Justice', 1100-1135. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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