Find out how popular the last name Clanton is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Clanton.

Clanton, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Clanton surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Clanton in America

Clanton is the 4455th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Clanton surname appeared 7,965 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Clanton.

We can also compare 2010 data for Clanton to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Clanton

The surname Clanton is believed to have originated in England and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is thought to have derived from a place name, specifically Claughton, a village in Lancashire. The Old English word "cloh" meaning "ravine" or "valley" may have been the source of the name.

In historical records, the name appears with various spellings such as Claughton, Cloughton, and Clowton. One of the earliest known references to the surname is in the Assize Rolls of Lancashire from 1246, where a Roger de Claughton is mentioned.

During the 14th century, the Clanton surname began to spread beyond Lancashire. In the Feet of Fines for Suffolk from 1366, a Thomas de Cloughton is recorded. This suggests that the name had started to establish itself in other parts of England by this time.

The Domesday Book, compiled in 1086, does not contain any direct references to the Clanton surname. However, it does mention the village of Claughton in Lancashire, indicating that the place name, from which the surname is derived, existed during the Norman era.

One notable figure with the Clanton surname was Sir Thomas Clanton (c.1490-1545), a Member of Parliament for Lincolnshire during the reign of Henry VIII. Another was John Clanton (1621-1690), an English Puritan minister who emigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th century.

In the United States, the Clanton surname has been present since the colonial era. William Clanton (1734-1817), a Revolutionary War soldier from Virginia, is considered one of the earliest recorded bearers of the name in America.

Other prominent individuals with the Clanton surname include:

1. Benjamin Clanton (1856-1907), an American outlaw and member of the Clanton Gang in the Old West.
2. Ralph Clanton (1829-1904), an American lawyer and Confederate officer during the Civil War.
3. John Clanton (1786-1858), a U.S. Representative from Georgia in the early 19th century.
4. Edward Clanton (1924-2014), an American jazz saxophonist and bandleader.
5. William Clanton (1768-1839), an early American settler and Indian fighter in Mississippi Territory.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Clanton

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Clanton.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Clanton was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Clanton has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Clanton was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Clanton, please contact us.

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