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    The surname Houghton

    An English place surname, carried by 11,184 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈhoʊtən/ 2 syllables Soundex H235

    Houghton: #3,228 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Houghton #3,228, 11,184 people Houghton: #3,228 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Houghton #3,228, 11,184 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Houghton is more common than 98% of them.

    Origin

    English origin

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

    Houghton 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 11,184 people named Houghton in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 27,606 Americans. That is up 1.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 11,019.

    #3,228
    rank among US surnames
    11,184
    people in 2010
    3.8
    per 100,000 Americans
    +1.5%
    change since 2000 (was #3,016)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #3,219Shipp11,21727,525
    #3,220Dao11,21127,540
    #3,222Sage11,20727,549
    #3,223Brockman11,20427,557
    #3,224Nino11,20227,562
    #3,225Parent11,19327,584
    #3,226Lenz11,19127,589

    Who is named Houghton

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

    93% of people named Houghton identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 2.1% as Black (not Hispanic).

    • White (not Hispanic) 93%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 2.1%
    • Two or more races 1.7%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Houghtons

    8 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Katharine Houghton
      American actress, playwright, born 1945
    • Israel Houghton
      American musician, born 1971
    • Amo Houghton
      American politician (1926–2020)
    • Georgiana Houghton
      British artist and spiritualist medium, 1814–1884
    • Jim Houghton
      American actor, 1948–2024
    • 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, born 1955

    Notable Houghtons come mostly from the United States (7) and Spain (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Houghton

    Houghton has the Soundex code H235, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code H235.

    Other English surnames

    All 1,446 English surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Houghton come from?
    From Old English hōh (“ridge, spur”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).
    How common is the surname Houghton?
    11,184 people in the United States had the surname Houghton in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 27,606 Americans. It ranked 3,228th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Houghton?
    In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Houghton identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
    Who is the most famous person named Houghton?
    Katharine Houghton, American actress, playwright, followed by Israel Houghton.
    Where is the surname Houghton most common?
    Wikidata records people named Houghton in the United States and Spain.
    How do you pronounce Houghton?
    Houghton is /ˈhoʊtən/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is Houghton?
    Houghton is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
    Is the surname Houghton getting more or less common?
    More common. 11,019 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 11,184 in 2010, up 1.5%.