This name is of Cornish locational origin from places thus called in the parishes of Budock, St. Eval, and Gwennap. The name, in all cases, derives from the Cornish "tre", a homestead or settlement plus a second element of uncertain meaning (possibly a mutated form of "buthyn", a meadow); hence, "settlement in the meadow". The surname is particularly well recorded in Cornish church registers from the mid 16th Century, (see below). On June 8th 1567 one, Constentyne Trevethan appears in the marriage register of St. Columb Minor Church, and in 1577 James Trevethyn, an infant was christened in Constantine. A further variant spelling Treveton appears in 1663 when on October 22nd of that year Prescilla, daughter of John Treveton was christened in Marwenstow, and on June 26th 1697, Robert Treveathan and Ann Treweek were married in St. Just in Penwith. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Trevithan, which was dated March 4th 1544, christened in St. Columb Major, Cornwall, during the reign of King Henry VIII, "Bluff King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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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