# Houghton (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/houghton/  
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) | 11,184 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,228 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 27,606 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.5% (11,019 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈhoʊtən/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Old English hōh (“ridge, spur”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Houghton 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) | 93% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 2.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 1.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Houghton in the United States and Spain.

## People named Houghton

- Katharine Houghton, American actress, playwright
- Israel Houghton, American musician
- Amo Houghton, American politician (1926–2020)
- Georgiana Houghton, British artist and spiritualist medium
- Jim Houghton, American actor
- Douglass Houghton, American geologist and botanical collector (1809–1845)
- Sherman Otis Houghton, American military officer and politician (1828–1914)
- Kris Jenner, American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman

## Similar surnames

Haughton, Hooton, Howton, Houston, Hastings, Huston, Higdon, Heston, Haston, Hasting, Hiestand.

## 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.