Calton
An Anglicized form of a Scottish surname derived from a place name meaning "fort town".
Name Census estimates that about 175 living Americans carry the first name Calton. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Calton today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calton births was 1939 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calton. 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
175
~ 1 in 1,958,596 Americans
Peak year
1939
11 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2012 SSA rank
#12,571
Tracked since 1915
Census
Calton in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 283 people with the first name Calton, which placed it at #30,644 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
#30,644
National first-name rank
People counted
283
283 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Calton
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calton is White at 50.5%. The next largest groups are Black (36.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.7%). 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 Calton 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 Calton at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.5% · 143
- Black or African American36.0% · 102
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.7% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.5% · 10
- Two or more races3.5% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 2
Popularity
Calton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calton from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 48 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Calton 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 Calton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Caltons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Calton
The name Calton is an English variant of the name Carlton, which has its origins in Old English. It is derived from the combination of two words: "cær" meaning a fortified dwelling or a farm, and "tun" meaning a town or settlement. The name essentially translates to "the farm or settlement by the fort."
This name gained prominence during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, particularly in areas with significant Anglo-Saxon settlements and influence. It was often used as a place name, referring to various towns and villages across England, before being adopted as a personal name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Calton can be found in the Domesday Book, a historical record commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. It mentions several places with names derived from Carlton or Calton, indicating the prevalence of the name in that era.
In terms of historical figures, one notable individual was Calton Winslow (1725-1789), an American military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He played a crucial role in the Battle of Bennington, contributing to the American victory over the British forces.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Calton Hill (1859-1935), a British architect known for his work in the Arts and Crafts movement. He designed several notable buildings in England, including the Horniman Museum in London.
In the realm of literature, Calton Cassius Colton (1780-1832) was an American author and clergyman who wrote several books, including "Lacon: or, Many Things in Few Words."
Moving to the world of sports, Calton Barnes (1912-1995) was an Australian cricketer who played Test cricket for the Australian national team in the 1930s and 1940s.
Lastly, Calton Bolick (1894-1985) was an American entrepreneur and businessman who founded the Bolick Pottery Company, a successful pottery manufacturer in North Carolina.
These examples showcase the diverse backgrounds and achievements of individuals who have borne the name Calton throughout history, ranging from military figures and architects to authors, cricketers, and entrepreneurs.
People
Calton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calton as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Calton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 175 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calton 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 1,958,596 US residents.
Is Calton a common name?
We classify Calton as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 299 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calton most popular?
The single biggest year for Calton was 1939, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calton is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Calton in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 283 people with the name Calton, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,644 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 Calton 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 Calton?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Calton leans strongly male. 276 people counted with this name were male (95.8%), compared with 12 female bearers (4.2%). 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 Calton?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calton is White at 50.5%. The next largest groups are Black (36.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.7%). 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 Calton most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Calton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.5% (143 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 Calton in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Calton a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Calton 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 Calton still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Calton 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 Calton 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 are called Calton?
You can see how many Americans are named Calton on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.