2000
#335
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 83,523
First available Census row
Per 100,000 30.96
Uncommon Last name
Horton
From a place name meaning "muddy town" or "town on the dirt" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 92,663 Americans carry the last name Horton. That puts it at #387 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 27.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,699 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Horton 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 Horton with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
93K
1 in 3,699
Census rank
#387
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
27.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
81K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 80,807 bearers of the surname Horton in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 27.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 387th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Horton, the largest self-reported group is White at 66.8%. The next largest groups are Black (24.1%) and Two or More Races (4.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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!"
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Horton
Among Census respondents with the surname Horton, the largest self-reported group is White at 66.8%. The next largest groups are Black (24.1%) and Two or More Races (4.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Horton 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 Horton surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.8% · 54,002
- Black or African American24.1% · 19,435
- Two or more races4.7% · 3,765
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 2,572
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 521
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 512
Timeline
Historical Census data for Horton
Horton 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
#367
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 85,195
+1,672 bearers (+2.0%)
Per 100,000 28.88
Rank movement Down 32 places
2020
#387
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 80,807
-4,388 bearers (-5.2%)
Per 100,000 27.03
Rank movement Down 20 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #335 | 83,523 | 30.96 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #367 | 85,195 | 28.88 | +1,672 bearers (+2.0%) | Down 32 places |
| 2020 | #387 | 80,807 | 27.03 | -4,388 bearers (-5.2%) | Down 20 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 Horton 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 | #367 | #387 | -5.4% |
| Count | 85,195 | 80,807 | -5.2% |
| Per 100K | 28.88 | 27.03 | -6.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Horton bearers went from 85,195 to 80,807 (-5.2% change). The surname moved down 20 positions in the national ranking, going from #367 to #387.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Horton
FAQ
Horton surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Horton?
Name Census estimates that about 92,663 living Americans carry the surname Horton. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,699 residents.
How common is Horton?
Horton ranks #387 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 27.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 27 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 80,807 people with the surname Horton. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (92,663), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 27.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 27.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 27 of them to have the surname Horton.
Has Horton become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Horton went from 85,195 recorded bearers to 80,807. That is a decrease of 4,388 (-5.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #367 to #387.
What does the Census say about the background of Horton?
Among Census respondents with the surname Horton, the largest self-reported group is White at 66.8%. The next largest groups are Black (24.1%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Horton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.8% (54,002 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Horton appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (66.8%), Black (24.1%), Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Horton (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 Horton mean?
From a place name meaning "muddy town" or "town on the dirt" in Old English. 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 Horton (27.03 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 share the surname Horton?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.