Acton
An English masculine name derived from the Old English place name "ac tun" meaning "oak town".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Acton. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Acton today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Acton births was 2018 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Acton. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Acton. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2018
5 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2018 SSA rank
#12,185
Tracked since 2018
Popularity
Acton: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Acton by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Acton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Acton
The name Acton has its origins in Old English, deriving from the combination of the words "ac" meaning "oak" and "tun" meaning "town" or "settlement." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a town or village located near an oak tree or oak forest. The first recorded use of the name Acton dates back to the 8th century, appearing in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a place name referring to various locations in England.
Acton was primarily used as a surname during the Middle Ages, often indicating a person's place of origin or residence. However, over time, it transitioned into use as a given name as well. One of the earliest documented instances of Acton as a first name was Sir Acton Burnell, a prominent English statesman and judge who lived from 1278 to 1347.
In the 16th century, the name Acton gained popularity among English Puritans, who favored biblical and virtue-inspired names. It may have been associated with the concept of "action" or "active," reflecting the Puritan values of industriousness and moral fortitude.
A notable historical figure bearing the name Acton was Lord Acton, born John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton in 1834. He was a prominent English Catholic historian, politician, and writer, best known for his quote, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Another famous bearer of the name was Acton Davies, an English actor born in 1936, who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout his career, including "The Avengers" and "Danger Man."
Acton Burnell, born in 1711, was an English clergyman and academic who served as the President of St. John's College, Oxford, from 1756 to 1785.
In the literary realm, Acton Bell was the pen name used by Anne Brontë, one of the renowned Brontë sisters. Her novel "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" was published under this pseudonym in 1848.
Acton Smee Ayrton, born in 1816, was a British lawyer and inventor who contributed to the development of the electric arc lamp and was a pioneer in the field of electrical engineering.
While the name Acton is not as common today as it once was, it remains a distinctive and historically significant name, particularly in English-speaking regions, carrying with it a rich heritage and associations with notable figures from various fields.
People
Acton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Acton as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Acton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Acton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Acton going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Acton a common name?
We classify Acton as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Acton most popular?
The single biggest year for Acton was 2018, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Acton is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Acton in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Acton a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Acton in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Acton still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Acton in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Acton can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Acton?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Acton, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.