How common is the surname Johnston?

131,373 people in the United States had the surname Johnston in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,350 Americans. It ranked 225th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Johnston?

In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Johnston identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Johnston?

Kristen Johnston, American actress (born 1967), followed by Joe Johnston.

Where is the surname Johnston most common?

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

How do you pronounce Johnston?

Johnston is /ˈd͡ʒɑn.stən/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Johnston getting more or less common?

More common. 128,935 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 131,373 in 2010, up 1.9%.

Is Johnston also a first name?

Yes. Johnston 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 Johnston

A place surname, carried by 131,373 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɑn.stən/ 2 syllables Soundex J523

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Johnston is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

From John + -s- + -ton.

Johnston is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 131,373 people named Johnston in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 2,350 Americans. That is up 1.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 128,935.

#225

rank among US surnames

131,373

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+1.9%

change since 2000 (was #207)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#216	Lane	134,227	2,300
#217	Riley	133,872	2,306
#218	Andrews	133,799	2,308
#219	Alvarado	133,501	2,313
#220	Ray	133,171	2,318
#221	Delgado	132,985	2,322
#222	Berry	132,812	2,325

Who is named Johnston

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

92% of people named Johnston identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 2.4% as Black (not Hispanic).

White (not Hispanic) 92%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Black (not Hispanic) 2.4%
Two or more races 1.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Johnstons

53 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Kristen Johnston
American actress (born 1967)
Joe Johnston
American film director and effects artist, born 1950
Daniel Johnston
American musician (1961–2019)
Ollie Johnston
American animator (1912-2008)
Bruce Johnston
American musician (born 1942)
Reginald Johnston
British diplomat and academic (1874–1938)
Michael Johnston
American actor (born 1996)
Bill Johnston
American tennis player (1894–1946)
Craig Johnston
Australian footballer (born 1960)
Frances Benjamin Johnston
American photographer, photojournalist (1864-1952)
Donald Johnston
American rower (1899-1984)
David A. Johnston
American volcanologist (1949–1980)

Notable Johnstons come mostly from the United States (42), Australia (6) and the United Kingdom (5).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Johnston

Johnstone

Johnston has the Soundex code J523, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code J523.

Questions

Where does the surname Johnston come from?: From John + -s- + -ton.
How common is the surname Johnston?: 131,373 people in the United States had the surname Johnston in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,350 Americans. It ranked 225th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Johnston?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Johnston identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Johnston?: Kristen Johnston, American actress (born 1967), followed by Joe Johnston.
Where is the surname Johnston most common?: Wikidata records people named Johnston in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Johnston?: Johnston is /ˈd͡ʒɑn.stən/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Johnston?: Johnston is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Johnston getting more or less common?: More common. 128,935 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 131,373 in 2010, up 1.9%.
Is Johnston also a first name?: Yes. Johnston 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.