Karlton
A masculine given name of English origin, a variant of Carl meaning "free man".
Name Census estimates that about 1,301 living Americans carry the first name Karlton. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Karlton today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karlton births was 1991 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karlton. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 263,455 Americans
Peak year
1991
47 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,612
Tracked since 1913
Popularity
Karlton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karlton from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 256 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Karlton 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 Karlton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karltons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Karlton, while Ohio, Alabama, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Karlton
The name Karlton is derived from the Germanic language and has its roots in the Old Norse and Old English names "Karlr" and "Cyrl," respectively. These names were composed of the elements "karl" meaning "man" or "freeman," and "cyrl" meaning "hardy" or "brave." The name Karlton is believed to have originated during the Middle Ages, around the 11th or 12th century.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Karlton can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landowners and property in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Carleton," which was likely a variation of Karlton or a place name derived from the name.
In the 12th century, a prominent figure named Karlton de Mowbray was mentioned in various historical records. He was a Norman nobleman and one of the most powerful barons in northern England during the reign of King Henry II. Unfortunately, specific dates of his birth and death are uncertain.
Another notable individual with the name Karlton was Sir Karlton Bulworth, an English knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War against France in the 14th century. He was born around 1320 and died in battle in 1372.
During the Renaissance period, a German scholar and theologian named Karlton Gesner (1516-1565) made significant contributions to the fields of natural history and bibliography. He is best known for his extensive work on describing and cataloging plant and animal species.
In the 17th century, Karlton Cotton (1630-1687) was an English botanist and explorer who traveled to the West Indies and made important observations about the flora and fauna of the region. He is credited with introducing several plant species to Europe.
Moving into the 18th century, Karlton Jenkinson (1727-1790) was a British politician and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Nova Scotia and later as the Governor-General of British North America.
While the name Karlton has its roots in ancient Germanic languages, its usage and popularity have ebbed and flowed throughout history, with notable individuals bearing the name in various fields and across different time periods.
People
Karlton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karlton as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Karlton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karlton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,301 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karlton 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 263,455 US residents.
Is Karlton a common name?
We classify Karlton as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,528 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karlton most popular?
The single biggest year for Karlton was 1991, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karlton is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Karlton a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Karlton 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.