Compton
A placename referring to the valley town in England.
Name Census estimates that about 55 living Americans carry the first name Compton. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Compton today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Compton births was 1992 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Compton. 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 Compton. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
55
~ 1 in 6,231,897 Americans
Peak year
1992
8 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,162
Tracked since 1915
Census
Compton in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 423 people with the first name Compton, which placed it at #23,223 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
#23,223
National first-name rank
People counted
423
423 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
60.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Compton
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Compton is Black at 60.5%. The next largest groups are White (25.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.8%). 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 Compton 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 Compton at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American60.5% · 256
- White25.3% · 107
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.8% · 33
- Two or more races3.1% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Compton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Compton from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 19 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Compton 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 Compton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Compton
The name Compton has its origins in Old English, derived from the words "cumb" meaning a valley or hollow, and "tun" meaning a town or settlement. It was likely first used as a place name, referring to a town or village located in a valley. The name Compton can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period in England, around the 5th to 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Compton is found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and manors in England conducted in 1086 under the order of William the Conqueror. Several places bearing the name Compton are mentioned in this historical record, indicating the widespread use of the name as a place name during that time.
In terms of historical references as a given name, one notable figure was Compton Wynyates, an English landowner and politician who lived from around 1420 to 1468. He served as a Member of Parliament for Warwickshire and was known for his involvement in the Wars of the Roses.
Another early bearer of the name was Compton Pauncefort, who lived in the 15th century and was a member of the English gentry. He was a landowner in Somerset and served as a Member of Parliament for Somerset in 1455.
In the 16th century, Compton Underwood, an English judge and legal scholar, lived from around 1520 to 1585. He served as a Justice of the King's Bench and was renowned for his legal expertise.
In the 17th century, Compton Wyndham, born in 1627, was an English politician and landowner. He served as a Member of Parliament for Somerset and was involved in the English Civil War, supporting the Royalist cause.
Moving forward to the 18th century, Compton Bassett, born in 1735, was an English clergyman and author. He served as a rector in several parishes and is known for his published works on theological and religious topics.
While these are just a few examples, the name Compton has a rich history and has been borne by individuals from various walks of life throughout the centuries, reflecting its enduring appeal and significance as a given name.
People
Compton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Compton 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
Compton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Compton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 55 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Compton 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 6,231,897 US residents.
Is Compton a common name?
We classify Compton as "Very Rare". It ranks above 55.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 81 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Compton most popular?
The single biggest year for Compton was 1992, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Compton is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Compton in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 423 people with the name Compton, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,223 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 Compton 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 Compton?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Compton leans strongly male. 409 people counted with this name were male (96.7%), compared with 14 female bearers (3.3%). 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 Compton?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Compton is Black at 60.5%. The next largest groups are White (25.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.8%). 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 Compton most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Compton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.5% (256 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 Compton in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Compton a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Compton 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 Compton still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Compton 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 Compton 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 Americans are named Compton?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.