# Compton (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/compton/  
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 from the placenames.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 35,830 |
| US rank (2010) | 971 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 8,617 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.0% (34,788 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɒmp.tən/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Cumpton |

## Etymology

From Old English Cumbtūn. Equivalent to combe (“valley”) + -ton (“town”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Compton 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) | 87% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 7.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 1.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Compton in the United States, Saint Lucia, the Kingdom of Great Britain and Germany.

## People named Compton

- Arthur Holly Compton, American physicist (1892–1962)
- John Compton, 1st and former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia (1925–2007)
- Karl Taylor Compton, American physicist and university president (1887–1954)
- Joyce Compton, American film actress (1907-1997)
- Caitlin Compton, American cross-country skier
- Cliff Compton, American professional wrestler
- Henry Compton, Bishop of Oxford; Bishop of London
- Juliette Compton, American actress (1899-1989)
- Katie Compton, American racing cyclist
- Forrest Compton, American actor (1925-2020)
- Betty Compton, American singer and actress (1904–1944)
- O'Neal Compton, American actor (1951-2019)

and 3 more on Wikidata.

## 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.