Family name origins & meanings
- English : habitational name from Plympton in Devon, named in Old English with pl̄me ‘plum tree’ + tūn ‘settlement’, ‘farmstead’. It may also be a variant of Plumpton, from any of several places so named, which have the same etymology.
- John Plimpton emigrated from England to MA about 1636, becoming one of the original settlers of Deerfield. His descendants included manufacturers of agricultural implements at Plimptonville in the town of Walpole, near the family farm, and a prominent book publisher.