Sheraton Surnaqme Meaning, History & Origin

The Sheraton name comes from Durham.  Scurveton was a small medieval village, now deserted, northwest of Hartlepool.  The place-name first appeared in 1190.  The death of Stephen de Schurveton was recorded in 1318.  A change in spelling and pronunciation evolved over the centuries, first to Shirveton and then to Sheraton.

Sheraton Surname Resources on The Internet

• NE England History Pages.  Northeast surnames – select Sheraton.

Sheraton Surname Ancestry

• from England (Durham)
• to America

England.  Sheratons owned land at Elwick near Hartlepool from the early 1600’s and possibly earlier.  William Sheraton of this family was a Royalist captain during the Civil War who lost his estates in 1652 after the defeat.  They were restored to him following the Restoration.  Sheratons continued to live at Elwick in the 18th and 19th century.

However, the Sheraton name might have languished in obscurity but for a certain Thomas Sheraton.  The son of a cabinet maker in Stockton on Tees, he left the region early in his life to seek his fortune in London.

There he established his reputation as one of the great furniture makers of the late 18th century.  He was author of the influential Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book.  His own furniture was characterized by lightness, elegance, and the extensive use of inlay.  However, his work did not become popular until after his death and he died in poverty.

Sheratons today are still to be found mainly in Durham.

North America.  The Sheraton name spread to Canada, and also, it would appear, to Massachusetts. 

Robert Sheraton emigrated to Nova Scotia in the 1820’s and was a merchant in St. John.  His son James became a professor of theology at Toronto University. Another Sheraton family was recorded in Boston in the 1880’s. Possibly this family started or ran the Sheraton hotel in Boston that was around in the 1930’s.

Two hotel developers in Boston, Ernest Henderson and Robert Moore, bought this hotel at that time.  The story goes that the hotel had a lighted sign on the roof saying “Sheraton Hotel” which was too expensive to change.  So they decided to call all of their hotels by this name.  From these humble beginnings sprung the worldwide Sheraton hotel chain.

Sheraton Names

• Thomas Sheraton was an 18th century English furniture designer, one of the big three of the era along with Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite.
• Sheraton was the original name for the global Sheraton hotel chain now found everywhere.
• Mimi Sheraton, born Miriam Solomon, was a longtime food and restaurant critic for the New York Times and other New York publications.

Sheraton Numbers Today

• 2,000 in the UK (most numerous in Durham)