Liston
A masculine given name derived from the surname Liston, referring to a person from Liston in Scotland.
Name Census estimates that about 422 living Americans carry the first name Liston. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Liston today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Liston births was 1923 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Liston. 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
422
~ 1 in 812,214 Americans
Peak year
1923
27 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,755
Tracked since 1888
Popularity
Liston: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Liston from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 177 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Liston 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 Liston during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Listons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Liston
The name Liston originated from the Old English language, derived from the word "listen," which means "to hear" or "to listen." It first emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Liston can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land and property ownership in England conducted in 1086 under the reign of William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Listuna," referring to a place name derived from the Old English words "hlyste" (listen) and "tun" (enclosure or settlement).
During the Middle Ages, the name Liston was primarily used as a surname, referring to individuals who hailed from a place called Liston or Listuna. It wasn't until the late 16th or early 17th century that Liston began to be used as a given name, possibly influenced by the growing popularity of biblical and saint names during the Protestant Reformation.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the first name Liston was Liston Blakeman, an English merchant and landowner who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Another notable figure was Liston Dickson (1770-1825), a Scottish-born American lawyer and politician who served as a representative in the United States Congress.
In the 19th century, the name gained prominence with individuals such as Liston Oakley (1825-1901), an American politician and lawyer who served as a judge in California. Liston Ramsdell (1853-1921) was a Baptist minister and educator who served as the president of Baylor University in Texas.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Liston was Sonny Liston (1932-1970), an American professional boxer who held the world heavyweight championship from 1962 to 1964. He was known for his powerful punches and intimidating presence in the ring, and his fights against Muhammad Ali were among the most highly anticipated and controversial boxing matches of the 20th century.
While the name Liston has its roots in Old English and was initially used as a surname, it has evolved over the centuries to become a distinctive given name with a rich historical background, spanning various cultures and disciplines.
People
Liston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Liston as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Liston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Liston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 422 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Liston 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 812,214 US residents.
Is Liston a common name?
We classify Liston as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 930 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Liston most popular?
The single biggest year for Liston was 1923, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Liston is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Liston a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Liston 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.