Alton
From Old English meaning "source of the river or stream".
Name Census estimates that about 23,251 living Americans carry the first name Alton. It is a predominantly male name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Alton today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alton births was 1937 (836 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alton. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Alton with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Alton is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 376 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
23K
~ 1 in 14,741 Americans
Peak year
1937
836 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,566
Tracked since 1880
Census
Alton in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 20,584 people with the first name Alton, which placed it at #1,572 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,572
National first-name rank
People counted
21K
20,584 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alton
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alton is White at 56.7%. The next largest groups are Black (34.7%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Alton described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Alton at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.7% · 11,675
- Black or African American34.7% · 7,134
- Two or more races3.3% · 669
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 428
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 402
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 276
Gender
Gender distribution for Alton
Out of the 47,725 babies given the name Alton since 1880, 99.2% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Alton as a male name
- Ranked #1,566 in 2024
- 110 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1937 (836 births)
Alton as a female name
- Ranked #12,428 in 1989
- 5 female births in 1989
- Peak: 1920 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alton appears almost entirely male. Of the 20,582 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Alton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alton from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 7,338 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alton 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 Alton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Altons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Alton, while Colorado, Montana, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 862 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alton
The name Alton has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the words "ald" meaning old and "tun" meaning town or enclosure. It was initially a place name referring to an old town or settlement, often associated with rural areas in England.
In the Middle Ages, the name Alton was commonly used as a surname, particularly among families residing in or near places bearing this name. Over time, it transitioned into a given name, though its earliest recorded use as a first name is not entirely clear.
One of the earliest known references to the name Alton can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and settlements in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions several places called Alton, indicating the name's prevalence as a place name during the Norman period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Alton. One of the earliest was Alton of Flamstead (c. 1330-1399), an English clergyman and philosopher who wrote extensively on logic and metaphysics. Another prominent figure was Alton Brown (1562-1632), an English politician and landowner who served as a Member of Parliament during the reign of King James I.
In the 18th century, Alton Shrigley (1714-1788) was a notable English architect and surveyor who designed several churches and public buildings in the London area. During the American Revolutionary War, Alton Allen (1738-1823) was a patriot and militia leader from Vermont who played a significant role in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga.
In more recent times, Alton Pollard (1943-2022) was an American blues musician and songwriter known for his contributions to the Memphis blues scene. Alton Brown (born 1962) is a renowned American chef, author, and television personality, best known for hosting the popular food shows "Good Eats" and "Iron Chef America."
While the name Alton has its roots in Old English, it has been used across various cultures and languages over the centuries. Its enduring presence in history reflects its connection to rural settlements and the longevity of place names that have evolved into personal names.
People
Alton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alton 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
Alton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 23,251 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alton 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 14,741 US residents.
Is Alton a common name?
We classify Alton as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 47,725 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alton most popular?
The single biggest year for Alton was 1937, when 836 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alton is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alton in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 20,584 people with the name Alton, or 6.82 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,572 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Alton in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Alton?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alton appears almost entirely male. Of the 20,582 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Alton?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alton is White at 56.7%. The next largest groups are Black (34.7%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Alton most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.7% (11,675 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Alton in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alton a male name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Alton 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 Alton still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alton 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 Alton 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.
How many people have Alton as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.