Family name origins & meanings
- English : unexplained. Various proposals about the origin of the name have been put forward, the most plausible being that it is a topographic name from early Middle English atte hærn ‘at the stones’ (see Hern 5).
- Simon Athearn (c.1643–1714) was one of the earliest settlers on Martha’s Vineyard, MA. His family is believed to have originated in Kent, England.