Alton
Alton was given to 106 boys in 2025, #1,602 among boys’ names; 47,832 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 21,000 Americans named Alton and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (44% of everyone recorded); the median is 59 years old and half are between 37 and 72.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Alton by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Alton mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Alton is “a male given name transferred from the surname.” Its etymology gives the senses “river source” (ǣwell) and “settlement, town” (tūn).
From Old English ǣwell (“river source”) + tūn (“settlement, town”).
/ˈɔːltən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Alton?
#1,602 among boys’ names, 2025
Alton fell from #1,239 in 2015 to #1,602 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 76.7 to 62.1 per million.
836 babies in 1937, the peak
Alton peaked in 1937, when 836 boys were given it, #173 among boys’ names. The 106 births of 2025 are 13% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 106 | #1,602 | 0.06 |
| 2024 | 110 | #1,574 | 0.06 |
| 2023 | 101 | #1,681 | 0.06 |
| 2022 | 86 | #1,853 | 0.05 |
| 2021 | 137 | #1,349 | 0.08 |
| 2020 | 92 | #1,694 | 0.05 |
| 2019 | 134 | #1,340 | 0.07 |
| 2018 | 132 | #1,352 | 0.07 |
| 2017 | 133 | #1,341 | 0.07 |
| 2016 | 148 | #1,248 | 0.08 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 147 | #1,239 | 0.08 |
| 2014 | 162 | #1,163 | 0.08 |
| 2013 | 152 | #1,180 | 0.08 |
| 2012 | 166 | #1,111 | 0.09 |
| 2011 | 131 | #1,305 | 0.07 |
| 2010 | 122 | #1,376 | 0.06 |
| 2009 | 150 | #1,203 | 0.08 |
| 2008 | 162 | #1,129 | 0.08 |
| 2007 | 165 | #1,102 | 0.08 |
| 2006 | 148 | #1,144 | 0.07 |
| 2005 | 135 | #1,182 | 0.07 |
| 2004 | 147 | #1,079 | 0.07 |
| 2003 | 156 | #1,011 | 0.08 |
| 2002 | 156 | #997 | 0.08 |
| 2001 | 111 | #1,206 | 0.06 |
| 2000 | 136 | #1,051 | 0.07 |
| 1999 | 128 | #1,061 | 0.07 |
| 1998 | 165 | #877 | 0.09 |
| 1997 | 147 | #920 | 0.08 |
| 1996 | 136 | #948 | 0.07 |
| 1995 | 152 | #884 | 0.08 |
| 1994 | 161 | #842 | 0.08 |
| 1993 | 181 | #783 | 0.09 |
| 1992 | 183 | #768 | 0.09 |
| 1991 | 221 | #678 | 0.11 |
| 1990 | 210 | #701 | 0.10 |
| 1989 | 194 | #703 | 0.10 |
| 1988 | 242 | #604 | 0.13 |
| 1987 | 191 | #660 | 0.10 |
| 1986 | 189 | #648 | 0.10 |
| 1985 | 207 | #607 | 0.11 |
| 1984 | 195 | #608 | 0.11 |
| 1983 | 238 | #544 | 0.13 |
| 1982 | 264 | #526 | 0.15 |
| 1981 | 240 | #545 | 0.13 |
| 1980 | 251 | #539 | 0.14 |
| 1979 | 244 | #546 | 0.14 |
| 1978 | 234 | #540 | 0.14 |
| 1977 | 273 | #491 | 0.17 |
| 1976 | 264 | #489 | 0.17 |
| 1975 | 241 | #515 | 0.15 |
| 1974 | 276 | #478 | 0.18 |
| 1973 | 322 | #435 | 0.21 |
| 1972 | 293 | #458 | 0.18 |
| 1971 | 363 | #424 | 0.21 |
| 1970 | 345 | #440 | 0.19 |
| 1969 | 353 | #420 | 0.20 |
| 1968 | 380 | #401 | 0.22 |
| 1967 | 403 | #372 | 0.23 |
| 1966 | 371 | #390 | 0.21 |
| 1965 | 402 | #389 | 0.22 |
| 1964 | 461 | #362 | 0.23 |
| 1963 | 460 | #368 | 0.23 |
| 1962 | 476 | #367 | 0.23 |
| 1961 | 542 | #336 | 0.26 |
| 1960 | 528 | #338 | 0.25 |
| 1959 | 541 | #333 | 0.25 |
| 1958 | 571 | #322 | 0.27 |
| 1957 | 565 | #324 | 0.26 |
| 1956 | 601 | #304 | 0.28 |
| 1955 | 613 | #288 | 0.30 |
| 1954 | 595 | #292 | 0.29 |
| 1953 | 604 | #287 | 0.31 |
| 1952 | 614 | #278 | 0.32 |
| 1951 | 650 | #264 | 0.35 |
| 1950 | 635 | #259 | 0.35 |
| 1949 | 601 | #269 | 0.34 |
| 1948 | 695 | #245 | 0.40 |
| 1947 | 659 | #260 | 0.36 |
| 1946 | 610 | #253 | 0.38 |
| 1945 | 553 | #241 | 0.41 |
| 1944 | 643 | #216 | 0.47 |
| 1943 | 659 | #223 | 0.46 |
| 1942 | 625 | #227 | 0.45 |
| 1941 | 636 | #211 | 0.52 |
| 1940 | 692 | #194 | 0.60 |
| 1939 | 680 | #192 | 0.61 |
| 1938 | 765 | #185 | 0.69 |
| 1937 | 836 | #173 | 0.78 |
| 1936 | 674 | #189 | 0.65 |
| 1935 | 699 | #188 | 0.67 |
| 1934 | 713 | #184 | 0.69 |
| 1933 | 669 | #184 | 0.67 |
| 1932 | 717 | #184 | 0.69 |
| 1931 | 706 | #186 | 0.68 |
| 1930 | 756 | #183 | 0.69 |
| 1929 | 716 | #191 | 0.67 |
| 1928 | 816 | #176 | 0.74 |
| 1927 | 759 | #191 | 0.67 |
| 1926 | 778 | #183 | 0.70 |
| 1925 | 708 | #197 | 0.63 |
| 1924 | 678 | #205 | 0.60 |
| 1923 | 676 | #200 | 0.62 |
| 1922 | 741 | #187 | 0.68 |
| 1921 | 688 | #200 | 0.62 |
| 1920 | 683 | #197 | 0.64 |
| 1919 | 630 | #199 | 0.64 |
| 1918 | 642 | #200 | 0.63 |
| 1917 | 604 | #195 | 0.65 |
| 1916 | 604 | #190 | 0.68 |
| 1915 | 568 | #195 | 0.67 |
| 1914 | 419 | #198 | 0.64 |
| 1913 | 372 | #183 | 0.73 |
| 1912 | 300 | #192 | 0.70 |
| 1911 | 156 | #194 | 0.69 |
| 1910 | 122 | #211 | 0.63 |
| 1909 | 101 | #212 | 0.62 |
| 1908 | 119 | #180 | 0.77 |
| 1907 | 120 | #180 | 0.82 |
| 1906 | 106 | #171 | 0.80 |
| 1905 | 164 | #135 | 1.2 |
| 1904 | 302 | #78 | 2.4 |
| 1903 | 84 | #190 | 0.70 |
| 1902 | 37 | #317 | 0.30 |
| 1901 | 26 | #359 | 0.24 |
| 1900 | 43 | #325 | 0.29 |
| 1899 | 33 | #306 | 0.31 |
| 1898 | 27 | #378 | 0.22 |
| 1897 | 34 | #316 | 0.30 |
| 1896 | 31 | #339 | 0.26 |
| 1895 | 26 | #368 | 0.22 |
| 1894 | 28 | #336 | 0.24 |
| 1893 | 24 | #368 | 0.21 |
| 1892 | 32 | #329 | 0.26 |
| 1891 | 20 | #386 | 0.20 |
| 1890 | 21 | #389 | 0.19 |
| 1889 | 26 | #348 | 0.24 |
| 1888 | 18 | #444 | 0.15 |
| 1887 | 15 | #438 | 0.15 |
| 1886 | 16 | #454 | 0.14 |
| 1885 | 29 | #312 | 0.27 |
| 1884 | 16 | #468 | 0.14 |
| 1883 | 28 | #309 | 0.27 |
| 1882 | 18 | #427 | 0.16 |
| 1881 | 11 | #533 | 0.11 |
| 1880 | 14 | #484 | 0.13 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Alton a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Alton has been given almost only to boys: 375 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Alton: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Alton, and how old are they?
21,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 44% of the 47,832 Americans ever recorded as Alton. The median Alton alive today is 59 years old; half are between 37 and 72.
The 2020 Census counted 20,582 people named Alton (104 women and girls, 20,478 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 23,726 born in the U.S. The Census count is 13% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 2,350 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 7,220 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 4,410 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 3,050 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 2,290 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,630 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Alton born?
The states with the most babies named Alton are Texas, North Carolina and Louisiana, with 35% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Louisiana is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 6,045 | #1,655 | 2.1× |
| North Carolina | 4,347 | #876 | 3.0× |
| Louisiana | 3,853 | not ranked | 4.1× |
| Georgia | 3,520 | not ranked | 2.6× |
| Alabama | 2,155 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| Florida | 2,123 | #1,634 | 2.0× |
| Mississippi | 1,735 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| New York | 1,715 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Virginia | 1,522 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| California | 1,422 | #2,006 | 0.4× |
Where Alton is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Alton is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 4.1 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Alton with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 48,294 babies since 1880, Alton is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 106 of their 118 babies (90%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Alton
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Alton and names like it
- Compare Alton and AltinBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sAlton peaked in 1937.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Alton since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Alton: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1937The year the most babies were named Alton.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Alton alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with AMost given first.