Fenton (name)

Fenton is both a surname and a male given-name, literally-meaning "fen/marsh town", originating as the name of several English places, popular in the United States and New Zealand. It is also a name of Irish-Gaelic origin; Ó Fionnachta (see Finnerty) or Ó Fiachna 'descendant of Fiachna', an old personal name Anglicized as Feighney and sometimes mistranslated as 'Hunt' (see Fee). Notable people with the name include:

Actors and actresses

 * Lavinia Fenton (1708-1760)
 * Leonard Fenton (1926-2022)
 * Simon Fenton

Journalists

 * Anthony Fenton
 * Tom Fenton

Musicians

 * Carl Fenton
 * George Fenton
 * Julian Fenton
 * Paul Fenton
 * Shane Fenton, singer aka Alvin Stardust

Politicians

 * Bob Fenton (1923–2013), New Zealand politician
 * Darien Fenton (born 1954), New Zealand politician
 * Donovan Fenton, American politician from New Hampshire
 * Ivor D. Fenton (1889–1986), American politician from Pennsylvania
 * James Fenton (1864–1950), Australian politician
 * Joseph S. Fenton (1781–1851), American politician from Michigan
 * Kelly Fenton (born 1966), American politician from Minnesota
 * Reuben Fenton (1819–1885), American politician from New York
 * William M. Fenton (1808–1871), American politician from Michigan

Sportspersons

 * Billy Fenton
 * Darin Fenton, Canadian curler
 * Ewan Fenton, Scottish footballer
 * Georgia-Mae Fenton (born 2000), British artistic gymnast
 * Geraldine Fenton
 * Isaac Fenton (1910–1997), English footballer
 * John Fenton (hurler)
 * Lorraine Fenton
 * Nick Fenton
 * Paul Fenton (ice hockey), American ice hockey player
 * Peggy Fenton (1927–2013), American baseball player
 * Rashad Fenton (born 1997), American football player
 * Ron Fenton (1940–2013), English footballer and manager
 * Ted Fenton

Writers

 * Elijah Fenton (1683–1730), an English poet, biographer and translator.
 * Geoffrey Fenton (c. 1539 – 1608), an English writer
 * James Fenton (born 1949), an English poet, journalist and literary critic. He is a former Oxford Professor of Poetry
 * James Fenton (1931–2021), Ulster Scots writer and poet.

Other

 * Carroll Lane Fenton, American geologist, paleontologist, author
 * Clyde Fenton, flying doctor
 * David Fenton, founder of Fenton Communications
 * Edward Fenton (died 1603), navigator
 * Frank Fenton (disambiguation)
 * Geoffrey Fenton (c. 1539–1608), English writer, Privy Councillor, and Principal Secretary of State in Ireland
 * Gwen Fenton, Australian Antarctic scientist
 * H. J. H. Fenton, chemical engineer
 * John Charles Fenton, lawyer
 * Joseph Fenton, informer killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army
 * Joseph Clifford Fenton, editor of American Ecclesiastical Review (1944–66)
 * Mildred Adams Fenton, American geologist, palaeontologist, author
 * Myles Fenton (1830–1918), British manager of railway companies
 * Prudence Fenton, producer
 * Richard Fenton, Welsh topographer, poet and writer
 * Roger Fenton, photographer
 * Steve Fenton, footballer
 * Steve Fenton, rugby league player
 * Suzanne Fenton, American biologist
 * Ted Fenton, manager of West Ham United
 * Wayne S Fenton, psychiatrist, researcher with National Institute of Mental Health
 * William N. Fenton, historian

People with the given name

 * Fenton Johnson (poet) (1888–1958), American poet, essayist, author of short stories, editor and educator
 * Fenton Keogh, celebrity chef
 * Fenton Robinson, blues musician
 * Fenton Williams, lighting designer, founder of Filament Productions
 * Fenton Bailey, filmmaker and television producer

Fictional characters

 * Fenton, a 'young gentleman' in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor
 * Harry Fenton, in the television series Peaky Blinders
 * Lord Fenton, in the novel Scarlett
 * Fenton Crackshell, aka GizmoDuck from DuckTales
 * Fenton, the Death Sheep from Hell, the subject of the song "Sheep Marketing Ploy" by Tom Smith
 * Fenton Mewley, from the animated television series Home Movies
 * Fenton Hardy from the Hardy Boys books
 * Fenton O'Connell, an alias of Kevin Ryan in the television series Castle
 * Fenton Meiks, in the film Frailty
 * Fenton, a minor character who has a feud with Fez in the television series That '70s Show
 * Daniel Fenton, a main character of the animiated television series Danny Phantom