How common is the surname Leighton?

8,399 people in the United States had the surname Leighton in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 36,760 Americans. It ranked 4,222nd of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Leighton?

In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Leighton identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Leighton?

Margaret Leighton, British actress (1922–1976), followed by Laura Leighton.

Where is the surname Leighton most common?

Wikidata records people named Leighton in the United States and the United Kingdom.

How do you pronounce Leighton?

Leighton is /ˈleɪtən/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Leighton getting more or less common?

More common. 8,297 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,399 in 2010, up 1.2%.

Is Leighton also a first name?

Yes. Leighton 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 Leighton

An English place surname, carried by 8,399 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈleɪtən/ 2 syllables Soundex L235 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). Leighton is more common than 97.4% of them.

Origin

English origin

Various place names in England, Old English leac (“leek”) + tun (“settlement”), also in the sense of a herb garden.

Leighton 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 8,399 people named Leighton in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 36,760 Americans. That is up 1.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 8,297.

#4,222

rank among US surnames

8,399

people in 2010

2.9

per 100,000 Americans

+1.2%

change since 2000 (was #3,933)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,217	Hutto	8,403	36,742
#4,218	Delrosario	8,402	36,747
#4,220	Palacio	8,400	36,755
#4,222	Leighton	8,399	36,760
#4,224	Rausch	8,398	36,764

Who is named Leighton

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

92% of people named Leighton identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 2.1% as Black (not Hispanic).

White (not Hispanic) 92%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Black (not Hispanic) 2.1%
Two or more races 1.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.2%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Leightons

6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Margaret Leighton
British actress (1922–1976)
Laura Leighton
American actress, born 1968
Robert B. Leighton
American astronomer (1919–1997)
Amanda Leighton
American actress, born 1993
Lillian Leighton
American actress (1874-1956)
Kenneth Leighton
British composer and pianist (1929–1988)

Notable Leightons come mostly from the United States (4) and the United Kingdom (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Leighton

Leighton has the Soundex code L235, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code L235.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Leighton come from?: Various place names in England, Old English leac (“leek”) + tun (“settlement”), also in the sense of a herb garden.
How common is the surname Leighton?: 8,399 people in the United States had the surname Leighton in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 36,760 Americans. It ranked 4,222nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Leighton?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Leighton identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Leighton?: Margaret Leighton, British actress (1922–1976), followed by Laura Leighton.
Where is the surname Leighton most common?: Wikidata records people named Leighton in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Leighton?: Leighton is /ˈleɪtən/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Leighton?: Leighton is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Leighton getting more or less common?: More common. 8,297 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,399 in 2010, up 1.2%.
Is Leighton also a first name?: Yes. Leighton 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.