This could be connected to increasing contacts between regions such as the formation of the Hudson Bay Company in Canada, which recruited heavily from Orkney as well as from England.
In Orkney, the name may have origins in the surname Lachtane or Lauchtain, which can be traced back to 1494 AD in the kings' records of that period.
The immigration to Orkney of Lowland Scots loyal to the Stewart king might explain the frequent use of the surname Lachtane or Lauchtain (Laughton) in that region.
The pronunciation of the name in Orkney also suggests that it probably shares its origin with the Irish Gaelic surname O' Lachtnain, which translates to "grey".
The name Lachtain is traceable in Ireland back to a St Laichtin in the seventh century and a church and well associated with the saint lasted until the Cromwellian era.