How common is the surname Appleton?

5,588 people in the United States had the surname Appleton in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 55,252 Americans. It ranked 6,132nd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Appleton?

Emma Appleton, British actress, followed by Thomas Gold Appleton.

Where is the surname Appleton most common?

Wikidata records people named Appleton in the United States and the United Kingdom.

How do you pronounce Appleton?

Appleton is /ˈæp.əl.tən/, 3 syllables.

Is the surname Appleton getting more or less common?

More common. 5,377 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,588 in 2010, up 3.9%.

The surname Appleton

An English place surname, carried by 5,588 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈæp.əl.tən/ 3 syllables Soundex A143

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Appleton is more common than 96.2% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Old English æppel + -tun, equivalent to apple + -ton. The town in Newfoundland is named for sawmill owner Appleton Cleaves.

Appleton 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 5,588 people named Appleton in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 55,252 Americans. That is up 3.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 5,377.

#6,132

rank among US surnames

5,588

people in 2010

1.9

per 100,000 Americans

+3.9%

change since 2000 (was #5,894)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#6,126	Kennard	5,592	55,212
#6,127	Pridgen	5,591	55,222
#6,130	Ellingson	5,590	55,232
#6,132	Appleton	5,588	55,252
#6,133	Priddy	5,586	55,271

Who is named Appleton

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

80% of people named Appleton identified as white (not Hispanic), 14% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 80%
Black (not Hispanic) 14%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 2.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Appletons

6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Emma Appleton
British actress, born 1991
Thomas Gold Appleton
American artist (1812-1884)
Mason Appleton
American ice hockey player (born 1996)
Jon Appleton
American composer (1939–2022)
Nathan Appleton
American merchant and politician (1779-1861)
John Appleton
American politician (1815-1864)

Notable Appletons come mostly from the United States (5) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Appleton

Applewhite

Appleton has the Soundex code A143, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code A143.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Appleton come from?: From Old English æppel + -tun, equivalent to apple + -ton. The town in Newfoundland is named for sawmill owner Appleton Cleaves.
How common is the surname Appleton?: 5,588 people in the United States had the surname Appleton in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 55,252 Americans. It ranked 6,132nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Appleton?: In the 2010 Census, 80% of people named Appleton identified as white (not Hispanic), and 14% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Appleton?: Emma Appleton, British actress, followed by Thomas Gold Appleton.
Where is the surname Appleton most common?: Wikidata records people named Appleton in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Appleton?: Appleton is /ˈæp.əl.tən/, 3 syllables.
What type of surname is Appleton?: Appleton is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Appleton getting more or less common?: More common. 5,377 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,588 in 2010, up 3.9%.