This is an English locational surname. It originates from either of two villages called Adlington, the first in the county of Cheshire near the town of Macclesfield, the second from Lancashire and near to the town of Chorley. In both cases the translation is believed to be the same, meaning ' the settlement of the Eadwulf people', with the first place name recording being that of Eadulfingtun in the charters known as the Diplomatarium Anglicum for the year 1000 a.d. This probably refers to the Cheshire village, as this also appears in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as Edulvintune, whilst the Lancashire place is first recorded in the year 1202, as Adelventon. Locational surnames were usually given either to the local lord of the manor and his descendants, as in case of the Adlingtons of Adlington in Lancashire, whose arms of three antelopes heads were granted in 1567, or to former villagers who had moved somewhere else. The easiest way to identify such people was to call them by the name of the place from whence they came. Spelling being at best indifferent and local dialects very thick, usually lead to the development of "sounds like" spellings. In this case the name may be recorded as Adlington, and possibly the short forms Adelin, Adelyn, Adlin and Adling, with Henry Adelyn appearing in the Hundred Rolls of the city of Norwich in the year 1273. Coats of arms have been granted for families in the counties of Cheshire, a black cross flory on a silver shield, Lancashire and Norfolk, the latter having the blazon of a black shield charged with three silver goats heads erased.

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