How Many People Are Named Thornton?
An estimated 1,252 people in the United States have the first name Thornton. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 56 years old, and Thornton peaked in popularity in 1921 with 75 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Thornton as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Thornton paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
1,252
About 1 in 273,765 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
100.0% confidence
Average Age
56
years old
Peak Year
1921
75 births
Total Registered
3,122
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Thornton
Thornton is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 3,122 total births registered, 100.0% were male.
Thornton as a male name
Ranked #12,159 in 2024
6 male births in 2024
Peak: 1921 (75 births)
Thornton: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Thornton span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 551 babies were registered. Thornton has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Thornton by Decade
How has Thornton tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Thornton by State
Birth registrations for Thornton span all 16 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Virginia, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Missouri, Maine, Massachusetts. On average, about 21 Thorntons were registered per state.
Thornton + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Thornton as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Thornton
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
Thornton: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thornton?
We estimate approximately 1,252 people named Thornton are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 273,765 Americans share this first name.
Is Thornton a common name?
Thornton is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 91.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 3,122 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Thornton most popular?
Thornton reached peak popularity in 1921, when 75 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Thornton is approximately 56 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Thornton a male name?
Thornton is predominantly male. 100.0% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Thornton Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Thornton Smith, Thornton Johnson, Thornton Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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