How common is the surname Alston?

30,693 people in the United States had the surname Alston in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,059 Americans. It ranked 1,148th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Alston?

William Alston, American Christian philosopher (1921–2009), followed by Rafer Alston.

Where is the surname Alston most common?

Wikidata records people named Alston in the United States and Australia.

Is the surname Alston getting more or less common?

More common. 28,089 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 30,693 in 2010, up 9.3%.

The surname Alston

An English place surname, carried by 30,693 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex A423

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Alston is more common than 99.3% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Old English Ælfes (given name with possessive) tun, translating as "Ælf's town".

Alston is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 30,693 people named Alston in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 10,059 Americans. That is up 9.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 28,089.

#1,148

rank among US surnames

30,693

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+9.3%

change since 2000 (was #1,140)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,139	Tillman	30,825	10,016
#1,140	Alford	30,771	10,034
#1,141	McLeod	30,769	10,034
#1,143	Mackey	30,749	10,041
#1,144	Dodd	30,732	10,046
#1,145	Emerson	30,702	10,056
#1,147	Muniz	30,695	10,058

Who is named Alston

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

80% of people named Alston identified as Black (not Hispanic), 14% as white (not Hispanic) and 3.3% as two or more races.

Black (not Hispanic) 80%
White (not Hispanic) 14%
Two or more races 3.3%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.2%

Compare: most common surnames among Black Americans.

Famous Alstons

8 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

William Alston
American Christian philosopher (1921–2009)
Rafer Alston
American basketball player, born 1976
Adrian Alston
Australian soccer player, born 1949
Derrick Alston
American basketball player (born 1972)
Charles Alston
African-American visual artist (1907-1977)
Walter Alston
American baseball player and manager (1911–1984)
Kevin Alston
American soccer player, born 1988
Ashanti Omowali Alston
American anarchist activist (1954-)

Notable Alstons come mostly from the United States (7) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Alston

Ahlstrom

Alston has the Soundex code A423, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code A423.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Alston come from?: From Old English Ælfes (given name with possessive) tun, translating as "Ælf's town".
How common is the surname Alston?: 30,693 people in the United States had the surname Alston in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,059 Americans. It ranked 1,148th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Alston?: In the 2010 Census, 80% of people named Alston identified as Black (not Hispanic), and 14% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Alston?: William Alston, American Christian philosopher (1921–2009), followed by Rafer Alston.
Where is the surname Alston most common?: Wikidata records people named Alston in the United States and Australia.
What type of surname is Alston?: Alston is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Alston getting more or less common?: More common. 28,089 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 30,693 in 2010, up 9.3%.