Recorded as Darrington, Darington, Derington, Derrington and others, this is an English locactional surname. It originates from the village of Darrington, in West Yorkshire, where it is first recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as Darnintone. From this the authors of the Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names deduced that the meaning was "The place of the Daegheard people", which is possible, anything is possible with some surnames. However we have failed to trace any early name of Daegheard, although this is not to say that it did not exist. Comparison with similar sounding names may suggest that Deor as a personal name meaning dear or beloved, or dearne meaning hidden, as in a nook or hollow, would be equally probable as a prefix. The surname being locational follows the usual trend of such names. That is that they were given either to the local lord of the manor and his decendants, or more usually to people after they left the original homesteads to move permanently somewhere else. In this case the first recording is that of Robert de Derington in the Hundred Rolls of the landowners of Lincolnshire in 1273, whilst Robert de Daryngton appears in the Poll Tax rolls of Yorkshire in 1379, and John de Deryngton, given as being a "horner", was a Freeman of York in 1383.

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