Duston
Of English origin meaning "from the dusty town".
Name Census estimates that about 1,111 living Americans carry the first name Duston. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Duston today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Duston births was 1986 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Duston. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 308,510 Americans
Peak year
1986
61 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2016 SSA rank
#11,098
Tracked since 1951
Popularity
Duston: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Duston from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 494 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Duston 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 Duston during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dustons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, Louisiana, California recorded the most babies named Duston, while Ohio, North Carolina, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Duston
The name Duston originated in Old English, derived from the words "dun" meaning "hill" or "down" and "tun" meaning "settlement" or "town." It initially referred to someone who lived in a settlement situated on a hill or in a down area. The earliest recorded use of this name dates back to the 11th century in parts of England and Wales.
One of the earliest known references to the name Duston appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests the name's Anglo-Saxon origins and its prevalence in certain regions of medieval England.
In the 12th century, a historical figure named Duston de Montalt gained notoriety for his involvement in the Norman conquest of Ireland. He was a Norman knight who accompanied King Henry II and participated in the invasion of Ireland in 1171. While records of his life are scarce, his name indicates the early use of Duston as a given name among the Norman nobility.
During the 13th century, a notable figure bearing the name Duston was Sir Duston de Warrenne, a wealthy landowner and knight from Sussex, England. He was a prominent member of the local gentry and held significant estates in the region.
In the 16th century, a clergyman named Duston Smythe gained recognition as a prominent scholar and theologian. He served as a canon of Salisbury Cathedral and was known for his religious writings and sermons.
Another historical figure with the name Duston was Captain Duston Hawkins, an English privateer who sailed the Caribbean Sea in the late 17th century. He gained notoriety for his daring exploits and battles against Spanish ships, though details of his life remain shrouded in legend.
Throughout history, the name Duston has maintained a consistent presence, albeit with varying degrees of popularity. Its Anglo-Saxon roots and association with settlements and geographical features in England have contributed to its enduring legacy as a distinctive given name.
People
Duston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Duston as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Duston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Duston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,111 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Duston 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 308,510 US residents.
Is Duston a common name?
We classify Duston as "Rare". It ranks above 90.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,165 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Duston most popular?
The single biggest year for Duston was 1986, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Duston is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Duston a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Duston 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.