2000
#3,640
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,969
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.32
Uncommon Last name
Saxton
An English locational surname derived from place names meaning "sword town" or "Saxon's settlement."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 10,380 Americans carry the last name Saxton. That puts it at #3,822 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 33,021 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Saxton surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Saxton with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
10K
1 in 33,021
Census rank
#3,822
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
9.1K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 9,052 bearers of the surname Saxton in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3822nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Saxton, the largest self-reported group is White at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Black (15.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Saxton
The surname Saxton has its origins in England, traced back to the Anglo-Saxon era, specifically the 7th to 11th centuries. It is derived from the Old English word "Seaxan," which means "Saxon," referring to the Germanic people who settled in parts of Britain during this period.
In the early medieval period, the name was often found in areas of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, where many Saxon settlements were established. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land and property ownership commissioned by William the Conqueror after the Norman Conquest.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was John Saxton, a 16th-century cartographer and surveyor who created the first county maps of England and Wales. Born around 1542, Saxton's detailed maps were highly regarded and influential in their time.
Another notable figure with this surname was Sir Charles Saxton, a 17th-century English admiral and politician. He served as a Member of Parliament and played a significant role in the English Civil War, supporting the Parliamentarian cause against King Charles I.
In the 18th century, Joseph Saxton was a prominent English clergyman and author. Born in 1733, he wrote several theological works and served as the rector of Sutton Courtenay in Berkshire.
During the 19th century, Sir Walter Saxton was a British naval officer who distinguished himself in the Napoleonic Wars. He was born in 1786 and rose to the rank of Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy.
One of the most famous bearers of the Saxton name was the American inventor and industrialist, Elmer Ambrose Sperry, born in 1860. His mother's maiden name was Saxton, and he is credited with pioneering innovations in gyroscopic technology and automatic pilots for ships and aircraft.
The Saxton surname can also be found in various place names throughout England, such as Saxton in Yorkshire, which was likely derived from the Old English word "Seaxa-tun," meaning "the Saxon settlement."
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saxton
Among Census respondents with the surname Saxton, the largest self-reported group is White at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Black (15.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Saxton bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Saxton surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.3% · 6,815
- Black or African American15.5% · 1,405
- Two or more races4.2% · 379
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 349
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 70
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 34
Timeline
Historical Census data for Saxton
Saxton appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#3,726
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,509
+540 bearers (+6.0%)
Per 100,000 3.22
Rank movement Down 86 places
2020
#3,822
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,052
-457 bearers (-4.8%)
Per 100,000 3.03
Rank movement Down 96 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,640 | 8,969 | 3.32 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,726 | 9,509 | 3.22 | +540 bearers (+6.0%) | Down 86 places |
| 2020 | #3,822 | 9,052 | 3.03 | -457 bearers (-4.8%) | Down 96 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Saxton surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #3,726 | #3,822 | -2.6% |
| Count | 9,509 | 9,052 | -4.8% |
| Per 100K | 3.22 | 3.03 | -5.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Saxton bearers went from 9,509 to 9,052 (-4.8% change). The surname moved down 96 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,726 to #3,822.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Saxton
FAQ
Saxton surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Saxton?
Name Census estimates that about 10,380 living Americans carry the surname Saxton. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 33,021 residents.
How common is Saxton?
Saxton ranks #3,822 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 9,052 people with the surname Saxton. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (10,380), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Saxton.
Has Saxton become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Saxton went from 9,509 recorded bearers to 9,052. That is a decrease of 457 (-4.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,726 to #3,822.
What does the Census say about the background of Saxton?
Among Census respondents with the surname Saxton, the largest self-reported group is White at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Black (15.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Saxton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.3% (6,815 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Saxton appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (75.3%), Black (15.5%), Two or More Races (4.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Saxton (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Saxton mean?
An English locational surname derived from place names meaning "sword town" or "Saxon's settlement." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Saxton (3.03 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Saxton?
If you just want to know how common the surname Saxton is, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.