How common is the surname Fulton?

32,258 people in the United States had the surname Fulton in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,571 Americans. It ranked 1,083rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Fulton?

Robert Fulton, American engineer and inventor (1765–1815), followed by Grace Fulton.

Where is the surname Fulton most common?

Wikidata records people named Fulton in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

How do you pronounce Fulton?

Fulton is /ˈfʊltən/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Fulton getting more or less common?

More common. 31,513 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 32,258 in 2010, up 2.4%.

Is Fulton also a first name?

Yes. Fulton 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 Fulton

An English place surname, carried by 32,258 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈfʊltən/ 2 syllables Soundex F435 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). Fulton is more common than 99.3% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Foulden, a village in Norfolk, from Old English fuġol (“bird”) + tūn (“dwelling”).

Fulton 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 32,258 people named Fulton in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 9,571 Americans. That is up 2.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 31,513.

#1,083

rank among US surnames

32,258

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+2.4%

change since 2000 (was #1,017)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,074	Cowan	32,586	9,475
#1,075	Slater	32,584	9,475
#1,076	Albert	32,507	9,498
#1,077	Justice	32,480	9,506
#1,078	Osborn	32,439	9,518
#1,079	Carver	32,415	9,525
#1,080	Lancaster	32,362	9,540

Who is named Fulton

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

71% of people named Fulton identified as white (not Hispanic), 23% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 71%
Black (not Hispanic) 23%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
Two or more races 2.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.0%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Fultons

15 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Robert Fulton
American engineer and inventor (1765–1815)
Grace Fulton
American actress, born 1996
Jay Fulton
Association football player, born 1994
William S. Fulton
4th governor of Arkansas Territory (1795-1844)
William Fulton
American mathematician, born 1939
Travis Fulton
American mixed martial artist (1977–2021)
John Farquhar Fulton
American neurophysiologist and historian of science (1899–1960)
Margaret Fulton
Australian food writer (1924-2019)
Robert D. Fulton
American politician (1929–2024)
Eileen Fulton
American actress (1933–2025)
Charles William Fulton
American politician (1853–1918)
Christina Fulton
American actress, born 1967

Notable Fultons come mostly from the United States (13), the United Kingdom (1) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Fulton

Felton

Fulton has the Soundex code F435, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code F435.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Fulton come from?: From Foulden, a village in Norfolk, from Old English fuġol (“bird”) + tūn (“dwelling”).
How common is the surname Fulton?: 32,258 people in the United States had the surname Fulton in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,571 Americans. It ranked 1,083rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Fulton?: In the 2010 Census, 71% of people named Fulton identified as white (not Hispanic), and 23% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Fulton?: Robert Fulton, American engineer and inventor (1765–1815), followed by Grace Fulton.
Where is the surname Fulton most common?: Wikidata records people named Fulton in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
How do you pronounce Fulton?: Fulton is /ˈfʊltən/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Fulton?: Fulton is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Fulton getting more or less common?: More common. 31,513 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 32,258 in 2010, up 2.4%.
Is Fulton also a first name?: Yes. Fulton 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.