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

Huston, 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 Huston surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Huston in America

Huston is the 2218th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Huston surname appeared 16,435 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Huston.

We can also compare 2010 data for Huston 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 Huston

The surname Huston originated in Scotland during the 14th century. It is derived from the Old English words "hus" meaning house and "tun" meaning settlement or town. The name likely referred to someone who lived in a particular house or settlement.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Ragman Rolls, a record of Scottish nobles who swore fealty to King Edward I of England in 1296. The name appears as "Huston" in these rolls. It is also found in the records of the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland in the 15th century.

The Huston surname is closely associated with the Scottish county of Renfrewshire, particularly the area around the town of Houston. This town was originally known as "Hugh's Town" or "Hugonis Villa" in Latin, named after the founder, a man named Hugh. Over time, the spelling evolved to the modern "Houston" and "Huston".

In the 16th century, a notable figure with this surname was Sir John Huston (c. 1537-1598), a Scottish theologian and writer who served as the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1586.

Another prominent individual was Sir Robert Huston (1590-1668), a Scottish baronet and landowner who played a significant role in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

In the 18th century, John Huston (1720-1779) was a Scottish-American surveyor and landowner who helped establish the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Moving into the 19th century, James Huston (1812-1895) was a Scottish-born American businessman and politician who served as the 12th Governor of Texas from 1859 to 1863.

In the 20th century, the name gained further recognition through the American film director and actor John Huston (1906-1987), best known for directing classics such as "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre".

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Huston

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

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

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

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