This unusual name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from either of the places in Cheshire called 'Tilston'. The first of these, situated near Malpas, is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Tillestone', and means 'Till's settlement', from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name or byname 'Tilla' or 'Tilli', from 'til', capable, with 'tun', enclosure, settlement. The second place, now called Tilston Fearnall, is recorded as 'Tidulstane' in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as 'Tideluestan' in circa 1100, and means 'Tidwulf's stone', derived from the Old English byname 'Tidwulf', composed of the elements 'tid', time, season, and 'wulf', wolf, with 'stan', stone, usually meaning a notable outcrop of rock or a stone boundary-marker or monument when found as an element in placenames. One Richard Tilston was christened at Holy Trinity, Chester, in Cheshire, on February 12th 1659. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Randolph Tilston (marriage to Jane Kyrke), which was dated October 23rd 1559, St. Gregory by St. Paul, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, 'Good Queen Bess', 1558-1603. 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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