# Norton (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/norton/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “north”, “enclosure”, “settlement”, “town” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈnɔɹtən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 2,310 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,310 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 48, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old English norþ (“north”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”). The parish in New Brunswick is named after Norton, Massachusetts.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 7 | 4,650 |
| 1977 | 10 | 3,770 |
| 1978 | 5 | 6,491 |
| 1980 | 7 | 5,337 |
| 1981 | 8 | 4,832 |
| 1982 | 6 | 6,175 |
| 1983 | 6 | 6,011 |
| 1992 | 8 | 6,518 |
| 1993 | 8 | 6,655 |
| 1995 | 5 | 9,881 |
| 1996 | 7 | 7,725 |
| 1997 | 8 | 7,090 |
| 2001 | 5 | 11,814 |
| 2002 | 6 | 10,296 |
| 2020 | 6 | 11,597 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 7 | 1,591 |
| 1997 | 6 | 1,761 |
| 1998 | 6 | 1,821 |
| 1999 | 3 | 2,943 |
| 2000 | 6 | 1,889 |
| 2001 | 4 | 2,587 |
| 2003 | 3 | 3,467 |
| 2004 | 3 | 3,651 |
| 2007 | 4 | 3,589 |
| 2008 | 3 | 4,432 |
| 2016 | 3 | 4,810 |

## People named Norton

- Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (1917–2008)
- Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma, British peer
- Norton Juster, American children's writer, academic, and architect (1929-2021)
- Norton Buffalo, American singer-songwriter, performer, record producer (1951-2009)
- Norton Simon, American art collector (1907-1993)
- Norton Barnhill, American basketball player
- Eben Norton Horsford, American food scientist and chemist (1818–1893)
- Norton Zinder, American microbiologist (1928–2012)
- Norton A. Schwartz, American military officer
- Emilie Martin, American mathematician (1869-1936)
- Brian Baird, American psychologist, politician and university administrator (born 1956)
- Bob Shamansky, American politician (1927-2011)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.