How common is the surname Carlton?

21,202 people in the United States had the surname Carlton in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 14,562 Americans. It ranked 1,698th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Carlton?

Vanessa Carlton, American singer-songwriter, followed by Larry Carlton.

Where is the surname Carlton most common?

Wikidata records people named Carlton in the United States.

How do you pronounce Carlton?

Carlton is /ˈkɑɹ(ə)ltən/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Carlton getting more or less common?

More common. 20,727 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 21,202 in 2010, up 2.3%.

Is Carlton also a first name?

Yes. Carlton is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Carlton

An English place surname, carried by 21,202 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈkɑɹ(ə)ltən/ 2 syllables Soundex C643 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Carlton is more common than 99% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Old English ċeorl (“freeman”) and tūn (“town”). Doublet of Charlton. The alteration of /tʃ/ to /k/ is down to Old Norse influence.

Carlton 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 21,202 people named Carlton in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 14,562 Americans. That is up 2.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 20,727.

#1,698

rank among US surnames

21,202

people in 2010

7.2

per 100,000 Americans

+2.3%

change since 2000 (was #1,587)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,689	Stiles	21,357	14,456
#1,690	Willard	21,352	14,460
#1,691	Waddell	21,301	14,494
#1,692	Stanford	21,295	14,498
#1,693	Latham	21,277	14,511
#1,694	Zhu	21,265	14,519
#1,695	Irvin	21,263	14,520

Who is named Carlton

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

80% of people named Carlton identified as white (not Hispanic), 15% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 80%
Black (not Hispanic) 15%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 2.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Carltons

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Vanessa Carlton
American singer-songwriter, born 1980
Larry Carlton
American guitarist (born 1948)
Steve Carlton
American baseball player, born 1944
Carl Carlton
American singer-songwriter (1953-2025)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Carlton

Carlton has the Soundex code C643, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C643.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Carlton come from?: From Old English ċeorl (“freeman”) and tūn (“town”). Doublet of Charlton. The alteration of /tʃ/ to /k/ is down to Old Norse influence.
How common is the surname Carlton?: 21,202 people in the United States had the surname Carlton in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 14,562 Americans. It ranked 1,698th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Carlton?: In the 2010 Census, 80% of people named Carlton identified as white (not Hispanic), and 15% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Carlton?: Vanessa Carlton, American singer-songwriter, followed by Larry Carlton.
Where is the surname Carlton most common?: Wikidata records people named Carlton in the United States.
How do you pronounce Carlton?: Carlton is /ˈkɑɹ(ə)ltən/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Carlton?: Carlton is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Carlton getting more or less common?: More common. 20,727 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 21,202 in 2010, up 2.3%.
Is Carlton also a first name?: Yes. Carlton is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.