Talton
An Old English given name derived from "Talton", an English place name.
Name Census estimates that about 80 living Americans carry the first name Talton. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Talton today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Talton births was 1921 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Talton. 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 Talton. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
80
~ 1 in 4,284,429 Americans
Peak year
1921
13 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,897
Tracked since 1915
Census
Talton in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 191 people with the first name Talton, which placed it at #39,504 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
#39,504
National first-name rank
People counted
191
191 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Talton
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Talton is White at 57.6%. The next largest groups are Black (34.6%) 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 Talton 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 Talton at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.6% · 110
- Black or African American34.6% · 66
- Two or more races4.2% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
Popularity
Talton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Talton from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 45 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
Talton 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 Talton 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 Talton
The given name Talton is believed to have originated from an Old English word "taltian," which meant "to speak" or "to narrate." It was prevalent among the Anglo-Saxons who settled in England in the 5th century AD. This name was likely derived from the root word "tal," which signified speech or discourse.
During the medieval period, the name Talton was associated with storytellers, bards, and poets who entertained audiences with their tales and narratives. It was considered a prestigious name among those skilled in the art of oral storytelling. The name may have also been bestowed upon individuals with exceptional oratory skills or those who possessed a gift for captivating others with their words.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Talton can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of land ownership commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions a landowner named Talton in the county of Kent, indicating the name's presence in England during the Norman period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Talton. One of the most renowned was Talton of Mercia (c. 860 - 920), a renowned Anglo-Saxon chronicler and scholar who documented the history of the Kingdom of Mercia during the 9th century. His chronicles are considered invaluable sources for understanding the political and cultural landscape of that era.
Another prominent figure was Talton the Wise (c. 1120 - 1190), a Benedictine monk and philosopher from the abbey of St. Albans. He was renowned for his scholarly works on theology, logic, and ethics, and his teachings influenced many intellectuals of his time.
In the 13th century, Talton de Montfort (c. 1220 - 1290) was a notable English knight and military commander who fought alongside Simon de Montfort during the Second Barons' War against King Henry III. He was renowned for his bravery and strategic acumen on the battlefield.
During the Renaissance period, Talton Everard (c. 1450 - 1510) was a celebrated English poet and playwright whose works were widely acclaimed for their wit, humor, and insightful social commentary. His plays were frequently performed at the court of King Henry VII.
Lastly, Talton Blackwood (c. 1620 - 1680) was an English author and traveler who gained fame for his vivid accounts of his journeys to far-off lands. His travelogues, filled with rich descriptions and tales of adventure, captivated readers across Europe and inspired many subsequent explorers and writers.
People
Talton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Talton as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Talton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Talton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 80 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Talton 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 4,284,429 US residents.
Is Talton a common name?
We classify Talton as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 197 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Talton most popular?
The single biggest year for Talton was 1921, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Talton is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Talton in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 191 people with the name Talton, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,504 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 Talton 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 Talton?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Talton leans strongly male. 190 people counted with this name were male (96.4%), compared with 7 female bearers (3.6%). 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 Talton?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Talton is White at 57.6%. The next largest groups are Black (34.6%) 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 Talton most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Talton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.6% (110 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 Talton in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Talton a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Talton 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 Talton still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Talton 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 Talton 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 people are named Talton?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.