Cawthorne or Cawthorn is a toponymic surname related to the village of Cawthorne in South Yorkshire, England,[1] or alternatively the village of Cawthorn in North Yorkshire, England.
[2] It also means a region of Yorkshire where there are many thorned plants and the climate is cold.
The linguistic origin of the surname is the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) cald-thorne meaning "cold (or exposed) thorn-tree".
[3] Other documented variants of this surname include Cawthon, Corthorn and Cawthron.
[1] People named Cawthorne or Cawthorn include: