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

Horton, 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 Horton surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Horton in America

Horton is the 367th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Horton surname appeared 85,195 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 29 people would have the surname Horton.

We can also compare 2010 data for Horton 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 Horton

The surname HORTON is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is derived from the Old English word 'hort' meaning a small wood or grove, and the Old English word 'tun' meaning an enclosure or farmstead. It is believed to have originated in England, specifically in the counties of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, during the early medieval period.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name HORTON can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as a place name in Buckinghamshire. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region by the time of the Norman Conquest.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the name HORTON began to appear more frequently in various historical records and documents, such as the Hundred Rolls and the Pipe Rolls. This indicates that the name was becoming more widespread across England.

Notable individuals who bore the surname HORTON include Sir Robert Horton (c. 1570-1623), an English landowner and Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire; Thomas Horton (1600-1649), an English merchant and colonist who was one of the founders of the Charlestown, Massachusetts settlement; and Mary Horton (1688-1769), an English-born American midwife and folk healer who was accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, several places in England were named after the HORTON surname, such as Horton-in-Ribblesdale, a village in North Yorkshire, and Horton-cum-Studley, a village in Oxfordshire. This further reinforces the association between the name and certain locations in England.

Other notable individuals with the surname HORTON include Samuel Horton (1768-1806), an English naval officer who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars; and James Horton (1807-1869), an English-born Australian politician and businessman who served as the Mayor of Adelaide, South Australia.

The surname HORTON has also been associated with several notable individuals in more recent history, such as the American author and illustrator Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel, 1904-1991), who created the character of an elephant named Horton in his books "Horton Hatches the Egg" and "Horton Hears a Who!"

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Horton

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

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

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

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