Historically part of the
West Riding of Yorkshire, the name "Ackton" means "oak-tree farmstead". It is formed from the
Old Scandinavian word
eik ("oak-tree") and the
Old English word
tūn ("farmstead, village, enclosure"). The first element of the name indicates the presence of settlers from Scandinavia in Ackton whose dialect influenced the name of the settlement. Ackton appeared as
Aitone in the
Domesday Book of 1086. The village is mentioned again, this time more correctly, as
Aicton. Ackton was a
township in the parish of Featherstone, from 1866 Ackton was a
civil parish but on 1 April 1938 the parish was abolished and merged with
Snydale to form "Ackton and Snydale". ==References==