# Horton (surname)

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

A habitational surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 85,195 |
| US rank (2010) | 367 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 3,624 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.0% (83,523 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈhɔɹ.tən/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

The majority of the English toponyms derive from Old English horh (“mud, slime”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement”). The village in Gloucestershire derives from Old English heorot (“stag, hart”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement”)

## Who carries it

Share of people named Horton 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) | 70% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 24% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

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

## People named Horton

- Mack Horton, Australian freestyle swimmer
- Edward Everett Horton, American actor (1886–1970)
- Peter Horton, American actor and director
- Big Walter Horton, American blues harmonica player (1921–1981)
- Johnny Horton, American singer (1925–1960)
- Jonathan Horton, American gymnast
- Clara Horton, American actress (1904–1976)
- Jerry Horton, American musician
- Ward Horton, American actor
- Gladys Horton, American singer (1945–2011)
- Peter Horton, Austrian singer, musician, composer and writer (1941–2023)
- Edmund Horton, bobsledder (1896–1944)

and 8 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Harton, Howerton, Hartman, Hardin, Harding, Harden, Hartmann, Hardman, Hartnett, Hartung, Hardeman, Hardiman.

## 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.