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

Dayton, 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 Dayton surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dayton in America

Dayton is the 4173rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dayton surname appeared 8,494 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 Dayton.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dayton 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 Dayton

The surname Dayton has its roots in England, where it originated as a locational name derived from the place name Dayton, a town in Shropshire. This place name itself comes from the Old English words "dæg" meaning "day" and "tun" meaning "enclosure" or "settlement." Thus, the name Dayton essentially means "the enclosure or settlement where daybreak occurs."

The earliest known record of the surname Dayton dates back to the 13th century, appearing in the Pipe Rolls of Shropshire in 1275 as "Adam de Dayeton." This suggests that the name was already well-established by that time, likely originating several centuries earlier.

In the 14th century, the surname is found in various records, including the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327, where it appears as "Robertus de Daytone." The Hundred Rolls of Berkshire from 1273 also mention a "Willelmus de Daitone."

One notable figure bearing the surname Dayton was Sir Robert Dayton (c. 1530-1607), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Northamptonshire. Another early bearer of the name was William Dayton (1592-1669), an English colonial settler who emigrated to New England in the 17th century and became one of the founders of the town of Hampton, New Hampshire.

In the 18th century, Jonathan Dayton (1760-1824) was a prominent American politician and Revolutionary War veteran who served as the third Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. The city of Dayton, Ohio, was named after him in 1805.

Other notable individuals with the surname Dayton include William Lewis Dayton (1807-1864), an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Minister to France, and Horace Dayton (1810-1870), an American engineer and inventor who patented several innovations in the field of firearms manufacturing.

Throughout its history, the surname Dayton has been subject to various spellings, including Daitone, Daytone, and Daiton, reflecting the regional variations and phonetic adaptations common in English surnames. However, the core meaning and origin of the name remain rooted in the Old English words that gave rise to the original place name Dayton.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dayton

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

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 Dayton 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 Dayton 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 Dayton was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!