Creighton
Of English origin, meaning "town with a creek or stream".
Name Census estimates that about 2,992 living Americans carry the first name Creighton. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Creighton today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Creighton births was 2007 (81 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Creighton. 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
3.0K
~ 1 in 114,557 Americans
Peak year
2007
81 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,801
Tracked since 1906
Census
Creighton in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,752 people with the first name Creighton, which placed it at #5,978 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
#5,978
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,752 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Creighton
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Creighton is White at 78.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Creighton 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 Creighton at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.6% · 2,164
- Black or African American8.5% · 234
- Two or more races4.2% · 115
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 101
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 85
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 53
Gender
Gender distribution for Creighton
Out of the 3,751 babies given the name Creighton since 1880, 99.6% 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.
Creighton as a male name
- Ranked #3,801 in 2024
- 29 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (81 births)
Creighton as a female name
- Ranked #16,420 in 2017
- 5 female births in 2017
- Peak: 2008 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Creighton leans strongly male. 2,664 people counted with this name were male (96.8%), compared with 87 female bearers (3.2%).
Popularity
Creighton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Creighton from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 633 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Creighton 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 Creighton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Creightons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Nebraska, Texas, Kansas recorded the most babies named Creighton, while Washington, Michigan, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Creighton
The name Creighton originates from the Old English language and is derived from the words "crea" meaning "creek" or "stream" and "tun" meaning "town" or "settlement". This suggests that the name likely originated in areas of England where settlements were established near creeks or streams.
The earliest recorded use of the name Creighton dates back to the 12th century in England. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Creighton of Cheshire, a nobleman who lived during the reign of King Henry II in the late 1100s.
In the 13th century, the name Creighton appeared in the historical records of Scotland, as a prominent family clan based in the Scottish Borders region. The Creightons were involved in various conflicts and political events during the Wars of Scottish Independence against England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
A notable figure with the name Creighton was Robert Creighton (c. 1593-1672), an English clergyman and bishop who served as the Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1670 until his death. He was a prominent figure in the Church of England during the tumultuous period of the English Civil War and the Restoration of the monarchy under Charles II.
Another historical figure named Creighton was Sir Edward Creighton (1778-1837), a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. He participated in several notable battles, including the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and was knighted for his service.
In the literary realm, Creighton Tull Chaney (1906-1973) was an American author and poet known for his works exploring the culture and history of the American South. His poetry collections, such as "Chinaberries and Other Poems" and "Puissant Dreamers," received critical acclaim and literary awards.
While the name Creighton has its roots in England and Scotland, it has been used across various cultures and regions over time, with individuals bearing this name leaving their mark in various fields, from religion and military service to literature and academia.
People
Creighton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Creighton 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
Creighton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Creighton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,992 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Creighton 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 114,557 US residents.
Is Creighton a common name?
We classify Creighton as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,751 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Creighton most popular?
The single biggest year for Creighton was 2007, when 81 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Creighton is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Creighton in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,752 people with the name Creighton, or 0.91 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,978 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 Creighton 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 Creighton?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Creighton leans strongly male. 2,664 people counted with this name were male (96.8%), compared with 87 female bearers (3.2%). 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 Creighton?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Creighton is White at 78.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Creighton most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Creighton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.6% (2,164 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 Creighton in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Creighton a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Creighton 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 Creighton still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Creighton 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 Creighton 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 Creighton?
See how many people have the name Creighton on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.