NAUGHTON

The family history of the ancient name Naughton was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. The name Naughton is derived from the native Gaelic O'Neachtain sept and is distinct from MacNaughton which is of Scottish immigrant origin and which is today mostly found in the Northern counties. The name Naughton has a number of variants including Naghten, Natton and MacNaught. The Gaelic word that gives these names is 'Neachtain' which translates as 'bright' or 'pure' and which was originally a Gaelic first name. This sept was located in the Western counties of Connaught Province, in Clare and Roscommon especially, where these names can still be mostly found today. Other variants include Nocton and even Norton.The Naughton family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Naughton descendants.