This surname of English origin is a locational name from any of the various places so called, the most likely source being Foxton in Northern Yorkshire which is derived from the Old English pre 7th Century "fox" meaning "fox" plus "ton" "settlement" or "enclosure", hence, "the enclosure or settlement where foxes abounded". The places so called in Durham and Northumberland derive from the Old English pre 7th Century "fox" "fox" plus "denu" "valley"of the fox". The name dates back to the late 13th Century, (see below). Further recordings include John de Foxton (1273) "The Subsidy Rolls of Cambridgeshire", Simon de Foxton, 1308) Rector of Middle Harling, "The Subsidy Rolls of Norfolk", and Thomas Foxtone, (1316), Rector of Hintlesham, "The Subsidy Rolls of Norfolk". Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Foxten, Foxen, etc.. One Francis Foxton married Elizabeth Kingsmell at St Leonard's Eastchapel, London, on January 24th 1598. The Coat of Arms granted in Cambridge has the blazon of a silver field, a red chevron engrailed between three black bugle-horns, garnished in gold. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Foxstune, which was dated 1273, "The Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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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