NameCensus.
Rare

Barton

A masculine English name derived from an Old English place name meaning "barn town".

Name Census estimates that about 5,959 living Americans carry the first name Barton. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Barton today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Barton births was 1960 (245 babies).

This page is the full Name Census profile for Barton. 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.

People living today

6.0K

~ 1 in 57,519 Americans

Peak year

1960

245 babies that year

Average age

61

years old

2024 SSA rank

#12,522

Tracked since 1880

Popularity

Barton: popularity over time

The SSA tracks Barton from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,878 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.

Babies born per year

06112318424518801900192019401960198020002020

Decades

Barton 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 Barton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.

DecadeMaleFemaleTotal
1880s95095
1890s67067
1900s70070
1910s3740374
1920s6920692
1930s8560856
1940s1,37101,371
1950s1,78301,783
1960s1,87801,878
1970s1,01601,016
1980s6910691
1990s2350235
2000s1170117
2010s95095
2020s24024

Geography

Where Bartons live

The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Barton, while Hawaii, Arizona, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 129 registrations each.

Origin

Meaning and history of Barton

The name Barton has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the words "bere" meaning "barley" and "tun" meaning "farm" or "enclosure". It was a common name given to those who lived or worked on farms or estates where barley was cultivated. The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 11th century in England.

Barton was a popular name among the Anglo-Saxon nobility and landed gentry, as it reflected their connection to the land and agricultural pursuits. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Barton of Bury St Edmunds, a prominent landowner and benefactor in Suffolk, England, who lived in the late 11th century.

The name gained further prominence during the Middle Ages, with several notable individuals bearing the name. One such figure was Barton Woodhouse, a 14th-century English prelate who served as the Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1363 to 1366.

In the 15th century, Barton Holyday was a renowned English scholar and theologian who authored several works on religious subjects. He was a fellow of Oxford University and later became the Bishop of Chichester in 1472.

During the Tudor period, Barton Leigh was a prominent English diplomat and courtier who served under King Henry VIII. He played a significant role in the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Ardres in 1546, which established a temporary peace between England and France.

In the realm of literature, Barton Booth was an 18th-century English actor and playwright, known for his portrayal of Shakespearean characters. He was born in 1681 and is remembered for his contributions to the development of English theater.

Lastly, Barton Paulk was an American baseball player who played in the Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1976. He was born in 1937 and is best known for his time with the Houston Astros, where he played a crucial role in establishing the franchise in its early years.

People

Barton + last name combinations

How many people share a full name with Barton as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.

Related

Other names starting with B

Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.

FAQ

Barton: questions and answers

How many people in the U.S. are named Barton?

Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,959 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Barton 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 57,519 US residents.

Is Barton a common name?

We classify Barton as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,364 babies have been registered with this name.

When was Barton most popular?

The single biggest year for Barton was 1960, when 245 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Barton is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.

Is Barton a male name?

Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Barton 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.

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.

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