2000
#1,822
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 18,094
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.71
Uncommon Last name
Overton
Derived from a place name meaning "upper town" or "over town" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 20,356 Americans carry the last name Overton. That puts it at #1,983 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.94 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 16,838 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Overton 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 Overton with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
20K
1 in 16,838
Census rank
#1,983
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
18K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 17,751 bearers of the surname Overton in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.94 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1983rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Overton, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.1%. The next largest groups are Black (25.7%) and Two or More Races (5.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Overton
The surname Overton is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "ofer" meaning "over" and "tun" meaning "enclosure" or "settlement". It is a locational surname, referring to someone who lived near or came from a town or village called Overton.
Overton is a common place name found in various parts of England, with records indicating settlements of this name dating back to the 11th century. The earliest known mention of the surname Overton is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is recorded as "Ovretone" in Hampshire.
During the Middle Ages, the name Overton was predominantly concentrated in the counties of Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Shropshire, where several villages and parishes bore this name. The earliest recorded bearer of the surname Overton is William de Overton, who is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Shropshire in 1199.
One notable Overton was John Overton (1601-1663), an English clergyman and author who served as the Bishop of Norwich. Another was Richard Overton (c. 1599-1664), an English pamphleteer and Leveller during the English Civil War, known for his writings advocating religious freedom and political reform.
In the 18th century, Robert Overton (1718-1793) was a prominent English architect who designed several notable buildings in London, including the Church of St. Mary's in Marylebone and the Seamen's Hospital in Deptford.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded bearers of the Overton surname was John Overton (1766-1833), a prominent lawyer and politician from Tennessee. He served as a judge on the Tennessee Supreme Court and was a close friend of President Andrew Jackson.
Another notable American with this surname was Walter Hampton Overton (1892-1983), a distinguished artist and painter from Texas, known for his landscape and still life works depicting the American Southwest.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Overton
Among Census respondents with the surname Overton, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.1%. The next largest groups are Black (25.7%) and Two or More Races (5.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Overton 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 Overton surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.1% · 11,548
- Black or African American25.7% · 4,566
- Two or more races5.0% · 883
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 578
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 107
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 69
Timeline
Historical Census data for Overton
Overton 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
#1,914
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 18,820
+726 bearers (+4.0%)
Per 100,000 6.38
Rank movement Down 92 places
2020
#1,983
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,751
-1,069 bearers (-5.7%)
Per 100,000 5.94
Rank movement Down 69 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,822 | 18,094 | 6.71 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,914 | 18,820 | 6.38 | +726 bearers (+4.0%) | Down 92 places |
| 2020 | #1,983 | 17,751 | 5.94 | -1,069 bearers (-5.7%) | Down 69 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 Overton 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 | #1,914 | #1,983 | -3.6% |
| Count | 18,820 | 17,751 | -5.7% |
| Per 100K | 6.38 | 5.94 | -6.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Overton bearers went from 18,820 to 17,751 (-5.7% change). The surname moved down 69 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,914 to #1,983.
FAQ
Overton surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Overton?
Name Census estimates that about 20,356 living Americans carry the surname Overton. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 16,838 residents.
How common is Overton?
Overton ranks #1,983 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.94 per 100,000 residents, which is about 6 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 17,751 people with the surname Overton. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (20,356), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.94 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.94 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 6 of them to have the surname Overton.
Has Overton become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Overton went from 18,820 recorded bearers to 17,751. That is a decrease of 1,069 (-5.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,914 to #1,983.
What does the Census say about the background of Overton?
Among Census respondents with the surname Overton, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.1%. The next largest groups are Black (25.7%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Overton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.1% (11,548 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Overton appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (65.1%), Black (25.7%), Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Overton (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 Overton mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "upper town" or "over town" 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 Overton (5.94 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 common is the surname Overton?
If you just want to know how many people have the surname Overton, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.