# Morton (surname)

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

An English and Scottish habitational surname from Old English from the placename.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 59,213 |
| US rank (2010) | 568 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 5,214 people |
| Change since 2000 | +0.7% (58,788 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | [ˈmɔɹtn̩], 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Old English mōr (“moor, marsh”) + tūn (“settlement”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Morton 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) | 74% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 20% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.9% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

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

## People named Morton

- Samantha Morton, British actress
- Joe Morton, American actor
- Kate Morton, Australian novelist
- Samuel George Morton, American physician and naturalist (1799–1851)
- Lachlan Morton, Australian road cyclist
- Andrew Morton, Australian software engineer
- Amy Morton, American actress
- PJ Morton, American musician
- Oliver P. Morton, American politician (1823–1877)
- Julius Sterling Morton, American politician (1832-1902)
- Stephanie Morton, Australian cyclist
- Mark Morton, American musician

and 20 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Martone, Marton, Merton, Murton, Mortensen, Mortimer, Mortenson, Martinez, Martin, Martins, Martino, Martens.

## 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.