Morton
Morton was last recorded in 2021, when 8 babies were given it; 12,341 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 2021 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,570 Americans named Morton and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (13% of everyone recorded); the median is 76 years old and half are between 61 and 85.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Morton by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Morton mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Morton is “a male given name transferred from the surname.” Its etymology gives the senses “moor, marsh” (mōr) and “settlement” (tūn).
From Old English mōr (“moor, marsh”) + tūn (“settlement”).
[ˈmɔɹtn̩]
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Morton?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #9,402, in 2021; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
482 babies in 1923, the peak
Morton peaked in 1923, when 482 boys were given it, #254 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | #9,402 | under 0.01 |
| 2019 | 5 | #13,491 | under 0.01 |
| 2018 | 11 | #7,457 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 9 | #8,596 | under 0.01 |
| 2011 | 7 | #10,400 | under 0.01 |
| 2008 | 5 | #13,948 | under 0.01 |
| 2005 | 7 | #9,809 | under 0.01 |
| 2004 | 7 | #9,618 | under 0.01 |
| 2000 | 5 | #11,589 | under 0.01 |
| 1998 | 8 | #7,311 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (124)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 9 | #6,444 | under 0.01 |
| 1996 | 6 | #8,645 | under 0.01 |
| 1993 | 13 | #4,608 | 0.01 |
| 1992 | 6 | #8,116 | under 0.01 |
| 1991 | 5 | #9,145 | under 0.01 |
| 1990 | 5 | #9,053 | under 0.01 |
| 1989 | 12 | #4,433 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 5 | #8,121 | under 0.01 |
| 1987 | 10 | #4,467 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 8 | #5,011 | under 0.01 |
| 1984 | 7 | #5,378 | under 0.01 |
| 1982 | 6 | #6,144 | under 0.01 |
| 1981 | 16 | #2,852 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 9 | #4,387 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 17 | #2,737 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 15 | #2,879 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 10 | #3,761 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 15 | #2,782 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 10 | #3,590 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 9 | #3,740 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 9 | #3,611 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 20 | #2,058 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 25 | #1,814 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 14 | #2,591 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 22 | #1,792 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 21 | #1,767 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 19 | #1,839 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 30 | #1,416 | 0.02 |
| 1965 | 21 | #1,761 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 30 | #1,456 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 29 | #1,474 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 36 | #1,306 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 30 | #1,484 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 32 | #1,419 | 0.02 |
| 1959 | 32 | #1,401 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 38 | #1,257 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 40 | #1,240 | 0.02 |
| 1956 | 38 | #1,242 | 0.02 |
| 1955 | 33 | #1,331 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 53 | #1,034 | 0.03 |
| 1953 | 50 | #1,030 | 0.03 |
| 1952 | 44 | #1,105 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 55 | #946 | 0.03 |
| 1950 | 55 | #930 | 0.03 |
| 1949 | 68 | #827 | 0.04 |
| 1948 | 62 | #870 | 0.04 |
| 1947 | 96 | #705 | 0.05 |
| 1946 | 94 | #670 | 0.06 |
| 1945 | 108 | #582 | 0.08 |
| 1944 | 94 | #637 | 0.07 |
| 1943 | 119 | #584 | 0.08 |
| 1942 | 118 | #569 | 0.09 |
| 1941 | 118 | #550 | 0.10 |
| 1940 | 132 | #504 | 0.11 |
| 1939 | 141 | #482 | 0.13 |
| 1938 | 198 | #403 | 0.18 |
| 1937 | 218 | #372 | 0.20 |
| 1936 | 275 | #327 | 0.27 |
| 1935 | 310 | #309 | 0.30 |
| 1934 | 310 | #309 | 0.30 |
| 1933 | 331 | #291 | 0.33 |
| 1932 | 402 | #272 | 0.38 |
| 1931 | 405 | #275 | 0.39 |
| 1930 | 367 | #300 | 0.33 |
| 1929 | 388 | #281 | 0.36 |
| 1928 | 371 | #295 | 0.33 |
| 1927 | 409 | #281 | 0.36 |
| 1926 | 443 | #269 | 0.40 |
| 1925 | 415 | #283 | 0.37 |
| 1924 | 471 | #261 | 0.42 |
| 1923 | 482 | #254 | 0.44 |
| 1922 | 460 | #263 | 0.42 |
| 1921 | 461 | #262 | 0.42 |
| 1920 | 435 | #262 | 0.41 |
| 1919 | 377 | #272 | 0.38 |
| 1918 | 397 | #267 | 0.39 |
| 1917 | 343 | #278 | 0.37 |
| 1916 | 320 | #288 | 0.36 |
| 1915 | 286 | #303 | 0.34 |
| 1914 | 233 | #292 | 0.36 |
| 1913 | 185 | #292 | 0.36 |
| 1912 | 137 | #316 | 0.32 |
| 1911 | 73 | #321 | 0.32 |
| 1910 | 40 | #435 | 0.21 |
| 1909 | 25 | #527 | 0.15 |
| 1908 | 27 | #484 | 0.17 |
| 1907 | 36 | #377 | 0.25 |
| 1906 | 31 | #392 | 0.23 |
| 1905 | 25 | #445 | 0.19 |
| 1904 | 19 | #505 | 0.15 |
| 1903 | 12 | #686 | 0.10 |
| 1902 | 15 | #576 | 0.12 |
| 1901 | 10 | #715 | 0.09 |
| 1900 | 13 | #720 | 0.09 |
| 1899 | 11 | #647 | 0.10 |
| 1898 | 13 | #623 | 0.11 |
| 1897 | 14 | #574 | 0.12 |
| 1896 | 18 | #493 | 0.15 |
| 1895 | 23 | #409 | 0.20 |
| 1894 | 27 | #354 | 0.23 |
| 1893 | 20 | #415 | 0.18 |
| 1892 | 27 | #373 | 0.22 |
| 1891 | 15 | #465 | 0.15 |
| 1890 | 31 | #314 | 0.28 |
| 1889 | 36 | #282 | 0.33 |
| 1888 | 53 | #240 | 0.44 |
| 1887 | 18 | #401 | 0.18 |
| 1886 | 6 | #928 | 0.05 |
| 1885 | 8 | #744 | 0.07 |
| 1884 | 11 | #595 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 6 | #858 | 0.06 |
| 1882 | 23 | #375 | 0.20 |
| 1881 | 14 | #476 | 0.14 |
| 1880 | 16 | #456 | 0.14 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Morton a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Morton has been given almost only to boys: 5 girls in 124 years of records.
Girls and boys named Morton: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Morton, and how old are they?
1,570 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 13% of the 12,341 Americans ever recorded as Morton. The median Morton alive today is 76 years old; half are between 61 and 85.
The 2020 Census counted 3,125 people named Morton (24 women and girls, 3,101 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,402 born in the U.S. The Census count is 30% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 581 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 571 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 232 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 94 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 47 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 33 |
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 Morton born?
The states with the most babies named Morton are New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois, with 69% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 4,308 | not ranked | 3.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 1,271 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Illinois | 732 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| New Jersey | 480 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Massachusetts | 361 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 345 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Maryland | 333 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| Michigan | 207 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Kentucky | 198 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| California | 196 | not ranked | 0.4× |
Where Morton is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Morton is most over-represented in New York: since 1910 it was given 3.9 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 Morton with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Morton
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 Morton and names like it
- Compare Morton and WilburnBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sMorton peaked in 1923.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Morton since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Morton: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1923The year the most babies were named Morton.
- The names of the Silent GenerationMost people named Morton alive today were born 1928-1945.
- Names starting with MMost given first.