2000
#5,154
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,246
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.32
Rare Last name
Orton
Derived from a place name meaning "farmstead on a shore" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,294 Americans carry the last name Orton. That puts it at #5,291 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.13 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 46,991 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Orton 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 Orton with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
7.3K
1 in 46,991
Census rank
#5,291
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,361 bearers of the surname Orton in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.13 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5291st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Orton, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Orton
The surname Orton is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "orton," which means a village or a farm near a gravelly shore or riverbank. The name first emerged in the regions of Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, and Lincolnshire, where many places bear the name Orton.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which mentions an Ordric de Orton, a landowner in Lincolnshire. Another early reference is from the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in 1195, where a Richard de Orton is listed.
In the 13th century, the surname appears in various spellings, such as Orton, Oreton, and Ortion, reflecting the regional variations in pronunciation. One notable bearer of the name during this period was John Orton, a member of the Parliament of England in 1295, representing the county of Northamptonshire.
The surname Orton is also associated with several place names, such as Orton Waterville and Orton Longueville in Huntingdonshire, as well as Orton-on-the-Hill and Orton Scar in Cumbria. These place names likely derived from the same Old English root as the surname.
Among the notable individuals with the surname Orton throughout history are:
1. Job Orton (1717-1783), an English Dissenting minister and writer, known for his works on theology and ecclesiastical history.
2. Reginald Orton (1899-1980), a British comic actor and playwright, best known for his collaboration with his partner, Gertie Gitana, in music hall performances.
3. Arthur Orton (1834-1898), also known as the Tichborne Claimant, who infamously impersonated Sir Roger Tichborne, a wealthy baronet, in a famous 19th-century English court case.
4. Joe Orton (1933-1967), an English playwright and author, renowned for his dark comedies and shocking black humor plays, such as "Loot" and "What the Butler Saw."
5. Randy Orton (born 1980), an American professional wrestler, currently signed with WWE and a multi-time world champion in the company.
While the surname Orton has its roots in the English countryside, it has since spread across the globe, with bearers of the name contributing to various fields, including literature, theater, and sports.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orton
Among Census respondents with the surname Orton, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Orton 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 Orton surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 5,753
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 224
- Two or more races2.9% · 183
- Black or African American2.2% · 141
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 28
Timeline
Historical Census data for Orton
Orton 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
#5,201
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,720
+474 bearers (+7.6%)
Per 100,000 2.28
Rank movement Down 47 places
2020
#5,291
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,361
-359 bearers (-5.3%)
Per 100,000 2.13
Rank movement Down 90 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,154 | 6,246 | 2.32 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,201 | 6,720 | 2.28 | +474 bearers (+7.6%) | Down 47 places |
| 2020 | #5,291 | 6,361 | 2.13 | -359 bearers (-5.3%) | Down 90 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 Orton 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 | #5,201 | #5,291 | -1.7% |
| Count | 6,720 | 6,361 | -5.3% |
| Per 100K | 2.28 | 2.13 | -6.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Orton bearers went from 6,720 to 6,361 (-5.3% change). The surname moved down 90 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,201 to #5,291.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Orton
FAQ
Orton surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Orton?
Name Census estimates that about 7,294 living Americans carry the surname Orton. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 46,991 residents.
How common is Orton?
Orton ranks #5,291 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.13 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,361 people with the surname Orton. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,294), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.13 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.13 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Orton.
Has Orton become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Orton went from 6,720 recorded bearers to 6,361. That is a decrease of 359 (-5.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,201 to #5,291.
What does the Census say about the background of Orton?
Among Census respondents with the surname Orton, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Orton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (5,753 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Orton appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.4%), Hispanic (3.5%), Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Orton (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 Orton mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "farmstead on a shore" 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 Orton (2.13 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 have the surname Orton?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.