2000
#121,058
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 132
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Silverton
A locational surname derived from a place with a silver mine or silver-bearing river.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 139 Americans carry the last name Silverton. That puts it at #141,309 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,465,859 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Silverton 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 Silverton with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
139
1 in 2,465,859
Census rank
#141,309
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
121
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 121 bearers of the surname Silverton in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 141309th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Silverton, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Silverton
The surname Silverton originated in England during the late medieval period, deriving from the Old English words "seolfor" meaning silver and "tun" meaning an enclosure or settlement. It likely referred to someone who lived near a silver mine or traded in silver.
One of the earliest recorded spellings of the name is found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1208, where it appears as "Roger de Silverton". This suggests the name was already established in northern England by the early 13th century.
In the 14th century, the name crops up in various administrative records across the country. For instance, a Thomas Sylverton is mentioned in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire in 1348. The varied spellings like Sylverton and Silverton reflect how surnames were still evolving at this time.
Some suggest the name may be toponymic, referring to the village of Silverton in Devon, first recorded as "Sylfretone" in the Domesday Book of 1086. However, it's unclear if the surname derived from this placename or vice versa.
Notable bearers of the Silverton surname include Sir John Silverton (c.1475-1553), an English landowner and Member of Parliament during the reign of Henry VIII. Later, in the 17th century, we find Edward Silverton (1631-1695), a Puritan minister who emigrated to Massachusetts.
Other early examples are Robert Silverton (c.1520-1585), a London merchant, and the Reverend William Silverton (1664-1741), vicar of St Mary's Church in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Moving into the 19th century, there is the artist Emily Silverton (1836-1902) who specialized in flower paintings.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Silverton
Among Census respondents with the surname Silverton, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Silverton 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 Silverton surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.5% · 101
- Black or African American9.1% · 11
- Two or more races4.1% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Silverton
Silverton 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
#131,379
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 129
-3 bearers (-2.3%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 10,321 places
2020
#141,309
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 121
-8 bearers (-6.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 9,930 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #121,058 | 132 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #131,379 | 129 | 0.04 | -3 bearers (-2.3%) | Down 10,321 places |
| 2020 | #141,309 | 121 | 0.04 | -8 bearers (-6.2%) | Down 9,930 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 Silverton 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 | #131,379 | #141,309 | -7.6% |
| Count | 129 | 121 | -6.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | 1.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Silverton bearers went from 129 to 121 (-6.2% change). The surname moved down 9,930 positions in the national ranking, going from #131,379 to #141,309.
FAQ
Silverton surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Silverton?
Name Census estimates that about 139 living Americans carry the surname Silverton. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,465,859 residents.
How common is Silverton?
Silverton ranks #141,309 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 121 people with the surname Silverton. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (139), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Silverton.
Has Silverton become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Silverton went from 129 recorded bearers to 121. That is a decrease of 8 (-6.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #131,379 to #141,309.
What does the Census say about the background of Silverton?
Among Census respondents with the surname Silverton, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Silverton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.5% (101 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Silverton appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (83.5%), Black (9.1%), Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Silverton (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 Silverton mean?
A locational surname derived from a place with a silver mine or silver-bearing river. 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 Silverton (0.04 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 share the surname Silverton?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.