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    The surname Compton

    An English place surname, carried by 35,830 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈkɒmp.tən/ 2 syllables Soundex C513 Also a first name

    Compton: #971 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Compton #971, 35,830 people Compton: #971 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Compton #971, 35,830 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Compton is more common than 99.4% of them.

    Origin

    English origin

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

    Compton 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 35,830 people named Compton in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 8,617 Americans. That is up 3.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 34,788.

    #971
    rank among US surnames
    35,830
    people in 2010
    12
    per 100,000 Americans
    +3%
    change since 2000 (was #910)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #962Vu36,1798,534
    #963Andersen36,1508,541
    #964Spence36,1298,546
    #965McPherson36,1258,547
    #966Church36,0728,559
    #967Schmitt36,0438,566
    #968Stanton35,9978,577

    Who is named Compton

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

    87% of people named Compton identified as white (not Hispanic), 7.8% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 87%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 7.8%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
    • Two or more races 1.7%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Comptons

    15 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • 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, born 1980
    • Cliff Compton
      American professional wrestler, born 1979
    • Henry Compton
      Bishop of Oxford; Bishop of London, 1632–1713
    • Juliette Compton
      American actress (1899-1989)
    • Katie Compton
      American racing cyclist, born 1978
    • Forrest Compton
      American actor (1925-2020)
    • Betty Compton
      American singer and actress (1904–1944)
    • O'Neal Compton
      American actor (1951-2019)

    Notable Comptons come mostly from the United States (12), Saint Lucia (1) and the Kingdom of Great Britain (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    • Cumpton

    Compton has the Soundex code C513, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C513.

    Other English surnames

    All 1,446 English surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Compton come from?
    From Old English Cumbtūn. Equivalent to combe (“valley”) + -ton (“town”).
    How common is the surname Compton?
    35,830 people in the United States had the surname Compton in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 8,617 Americans. It ranked 971st of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Compton?
    In the 2010 Census, 87% of people named Compton identified as white (not Hispanic), and 7.8% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Compton?
    Arthur Holly Compton, American physicist (1892–1962), followed by John Compton.
    Where is the surname Compton most common?
    Wikidata records people named Compton in the United States, Saint Lucia and the Kingdom of Great Britain and 1 other country.
    How do you pronounce Compton?
    Compton is /ˈkɒmp.tən/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is Compton?
    Compton is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
    Is the surname Compton getting more or less common?
    More common. 34,788 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 35,830 in 2010, up 3.0%.
    What are other spellings of Compton?
    Cumpton.
    Is Compton also a first name?
    Yes. Compton 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.