# Clifton (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/clifton/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English habitational surname from Old English for someone who lived in one of the places in England.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 24,758 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,439 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 12,471 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.0% (24,523 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈklɪftən/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Cliffton |

## Etymology

*Literally meaning "town by a cliff." From Old English clif (“cliff”) + tūn (“town”). Analyzable as cliff + -ton. *In Oregon County, Missouri, from Cliff + -ton. From being named after a Cliff, or which may be clipped to Clif.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Clifton in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 81% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 13% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Clifton in the United States and Montserrat.

## People named Clifton

- Scott Clifton, American television actor, musician, Internet personality
- Elmer Clifton, American film director (1890–1949)
- Lucille Clifton, American poet (1936-2010)
- Nathaniel Clifton, American basketball player-coach (1922-1990)
- Mark Clifton, American writer (1906–1963)
- Adrian Clifton, association football player

## Similar surnames

Clift, Clopton.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.