Thurston
A masculine name of Old English origin meaning "from Thor's village".
Name Census estimates that about 1,839 living Americans carry the first name Thurston. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Thurston today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thurston births was 1918 (73 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thurston. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Thurston with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.8K
~ 1 in 186,381 Americans
Peak year
1918
73 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,234
Tracked since 1884
Census
Thurston in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,602 people with the first name Thurston, which placed it at #8,891 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,891
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,602 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thurston
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thurston is White at 52.1%. The next largest groups are Black (36.7%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Thurston 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 name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Thurston at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.1% · 835
- Black or African American36.7% · 588
- Two or more races4.1% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 53
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 28
Popularity
Thurston: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thurston from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 542 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Thurston by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Thurston during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Thurstons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. North Carolina, Alabama, Texas recorded the most babies named Thurston, while Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Thurston
The name Thurston has its origins in Old English, derived from the combination of the words "thur" meaning "giant" or "strong" and "tun" meaning "town" or "settlement". It was initially a surname, but over time transitioned into a given name as well. The earliest recorded use of Thurston as a first name dates back to the 11th century in England.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Thurston was Thurstan (1070-1140), an English ecclesiastic who served as Archbishop of York from 1114 until his death. He played a significant role in the church's politics during the reign of King Henry I.
Another historical figure was Thurston the Lame (c. 1190-1264), an English monk and historian who authored several historical works, including a chronicle of the Abbey of St. Albans where he resided. His writings provide valuable insights into the events and personalities of his time.
In the 13th century, Thurston of Navenby (fl. 1230-1250) was a notable English philosopher and theologian known for his contributions to the study of logic and metaphysics. He taught at the University of Oxford and was highly regarded for his intellectual prowess.
During the 17th century, Thurston Clarke (1636-1697) was an English clergyman and author who wrote several works on religious and moral topics. His most well-known work, "The Scripture Doctrine of Justification", was widely read and influential in its time.
In more recent history, Thurston Dart (1921-1971) was a British composer, pianist, and musicologist. He made significant contributions to the study and revival of early music, particularly Baroque and Renaissance works. His recordings and transcriptions helped to preserve and popularize these musical traditions.
While the name Thurston has waned in popularity over the past few decades, its rich history and connection to notable figures across various fields make it a name with a strong cultural and linguistic heritage.
People
Thurston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thurston as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Thurston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thurston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,839 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thurston going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 186,381 US residents.
Is Thurston a common name?
We classify Thurston as "Rare". It ranks above 93.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,497 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thurston most popular?
The single biggest year for Thurston was 1918, when 73 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thurston is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thurston in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,602 people with the name Thurston, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,891 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Thurston in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Thurston?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thurston leans strongly male. 1,583 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 19 female bearers (1.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Thurston?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thurston is White at 52.1%. The next largest groups are Black (36.7%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Thurston most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Thurston in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.1% (835 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Thurston in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thurston a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thurston in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Thurston still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thurston in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Thurston can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Thurston?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Thurston at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.