Thornton Surname

3,776th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 148,641 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Ireland

Thornton Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Thornton,' near Bradford, Yorkshire; also parishes in the Dioceses Lincoln, Oxford, Chester, Peterborough, Canterbury, &c. The explanation of so many Thorntons in the Yorkshire directories lies in the fact that there are at least three Thorntons in that county—the Thornton above mentioned, Thornton-in-Craven, and Thornton-in-Lonsdale.

Read More About This Surname

Thornton Surname Distribution Map

By incidenceBy frequencyBy rank
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States102,0831:3,551381
England23,5651:2,364301
Australia9,7781:2,761378
Canada4,8291:7,6301,115
Ireland2,5781:1,827358
Scotland1,2961:4,131714
New Zealand1,2871:3,519545
South Africa7811:69,3708,653
Wales5381:5,752643
Northern Ireland4271:4,321849
Thailand1261:560,62295,829
Spain1211:386,38021,365
Germany931:865,65062,206
Philippines701:1,446,260102,978
Guyana661:11,5491,659
France591:1,125,809120,603
Austria531:160,66921,171
Barbados491:5,866625
Bahamas481:8,161696
Brazil441:4,865,326126,089
Switzerland441:186,65716,684
Kuwait391:97,45410,676
Singapore391:141,2236,278
Sweden381:259,12517,909
Malta361:11,952723
Netherlands361:469,08846,010
Zimbabwe361:428,84037,622
Chile341:518,13213,148
Qatar311:76,0647,685
Italy251:2,446,26894,040
Malaysia231:1,282,35854,976
Denmark221:256,57819,736
Guernsey221:2,929767
Isle of Man221:3,901846
India211:36,526,923420,161
Peru191:1,672,84923,436
Norway161:321,39331,311
China141:97,665,8265,141
Jamaica141:204,9965,998
Russia141:10,294,504334,277
Argentina131:3,287,955132,850
Japan121:10,653,69145,407
Jersey121:8,2671,718
Hong Kong111:666,8623,581
Czechia101:1,063,34780,937
Mexico101:12,412,62043,480
Panama91:434,6958,518
Belgium71:1,642,37898,400
United States Virgin Islands71:15,7682,111
Bermuda51:13,0561,849
Nicaragua51:1,204,2185,298
Cayman Islands41:15,9731,430
Georgia41:936,38624,100
Poland41:9,502,187181,606
Portugal41:2,604,56016,079
South Korea41:12,810,0642,073
Tunisia41:152,65617,743
Afghanistan31:10,717,72835,605
Colombia31:15,924,69128,711
Costa Rica31:1,593,3568,177
Indonesia31:44,083,065698,220
Nigeria31:59,047,586507,603
Albania21:1,457,02824,967
Belize21:177,7373,502
Croatia21:2,114,30285,143
Ecuador21:7,952,92334,269
Egypt21:45,967,877132,655
Greece21:5,539,895129,142
Kenya21:23,089,95083,168
Luxembourg21:290,2718,611
Oman21:1,843,9869,590
Tanzania21:26,470,806111,653
Turkey21:38,910,711171,901
United Arab Emirates21:4,581,13693,443
Zambia21:7,924,96145,994
Bahrain11:1,348,60810,432
Belarus11:9,501,059159,228
Bolivia11:10,616,43417,077
British Virgin Islands11:31,5941,029
Bulgaria11:6,978,90586,260
Cambodia11:15,487,14614,824
Congo11:4,989,09634,171
Cyprus11:884,87613,055
Dominica11:75,891912
Dominican Republic11:10,432,93236,508
Equatorial Guinea11:1,135,674984
Ethiopia11:97,546,26229,669
Finland11:5,496,70284,025
Gambia11:1,923,4511,043
Guatemala11:16,082,66812,169
Hungary11:9,816,27773,288
Iraq11:35,021,65431,813
Israel11:8,557,634182,558
Kazakhstan11:17,682,496204,010
Kyrgyzstan11:5,972,65499,197
Lebanon11:5,637,08332,436
Liberia11:4,408,53547,110
Monaco11:37,0664,748
Mozambique11:27,261,5697,432
Myanmar11:51,937,9852,166
Northern Cyprus11:319,01110,202
Romania11:20,077,87089,414
Saint Kitts and Nevis11:55,1991,294
Saudi Arabia11:30,855,81763,028
Senegal11:14,579,34211,705
Serbia11:7,144,94838,459
Sierra Leone11:7,089,6311,533
Sri Lanka11:20,808,56018,521
Sudan11:37,510,19514,259
Taiwan11:23,444,74693,622
Togo11:7,247,76812,049
Turkmenistan11:5,489,11211,427
Ukraine11:45,522,696503,646
Vietnam11:92,646,0548,382
Show All Nations
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland1,7431:2,542477
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England14,1681:1,720218
Scotland8021:4,667733
Wales1471:10,669651
Jersey51:10,3761,795
Isle of Man21:27,1351,659
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States18,2701:2,749304

Thornton (2,587) may also be a first name.

Thornton Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Thornton,' near Bradford, Yorkshire; also parishes in the Dioceses Lincoln, Oxford, Chester, Peterborough, Canterbury, &c. The explanation of so many Thorntons in the Yorkshire directories lies in the fact that there are at least three Thorntons in that county—the Thornton above mentioned, Thornton-in-Craven, and Thornton-in-Lonsdale.

Roger de Thoratone, Cambridgeshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Hugh de Thorneton, Yorkshire, ibid.

Richard de Thorneton, Yorkshire, ibid.

1549. Buried — John Thornetone: St. Michael, Cornhill.

1570. George Thorneton and Johanna Alondon: Marriage Lic. (London).

— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

From the lands of Thornton in the Mearns. The first of the name to appear is Laurence de Thorneton, witness in a deed by Henry, abbot of Arnbroath, c. 1204-11 (RAA., I, p. 117). John of Thornton, burgess of Montrose, and Johan de Thomtone of the county of Kincardyn en Miernes, rendered homage in 1296 (Bain, II, p. 198,209). In 1299 Walter de Thorneton, a Scots prisoner of war, who was exchanged for an esquire of Sir William de Cathecart (ibid., II, 1062), is probably Walter de Thornetone, executor of Marie, countess of Stratherne in the same year (ibid., 1117). Valentine de Thorntoun or Thornetoun had a charter of the lands of Thorntoun in lie Kincardin-Mernes from Robert I (RMS., I, App. II, 18). In 1398-9 Osbern styled de Yrnis ('of the Irons'), evidently from his trade of barber, acquired the land of Thornton (in Angus), and was then styled Osbern of the Irons, laird of Thornton ('Osbernus de Yrnis, dominus de Thornton'). By 1425 his son had dropped the style "of Irons" and became simply "John of Thomton" (Strathmore, p. 182). Alexander de Thorntoun was a notary public in 1455 (RAA., II, 104), John Thorntoun was vicar of Glasgow in 1491 (REG., 460), and James Thornetoun was canon there in 1554 (Protocols, I). Arnong Scots settled in Prussia in 1644 the name became Dornthon. Thorntowne 1609.

— The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

(English and Scandinavian) belonging to Thornton; or Dweller at the THORN-Tree Enclosure or Farmstead [Old English Old Norse porn + Old English Old Norse tún] Thornton, Dorset, occurs in a charter a.D. 958 as ‘set porntúne'— dat. The various York. Thorntons appear in Domesday-Bk. as Torentun, Torentune, Tornetun, Torneton, Tornitun; Lanc. Domesday entries being Torenton, Torentun; Chesh., Torintone.

Forms in the Hundred-Rolls (A.D. 1274) are Thorneton, Thorntone.

— Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

This English name has been used in Ireland as a synonym of Drennan, Skehan, Meenagh and Tarrant, q.v

— A Guide to Irish Names (1964) by Edward MacLysaght

(English) One who came from Thornton (place where thornbushes grew), the name of many places in England.

— Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

Parishes and places in cos. Bucks, Durham, Lancaster, Leicester, Lincoln, York, Chester, and Northumberland. Yorkshire abounds with places so called. Thorne appears to have been an old Anglo-Saxon personal name; and hence Thornton may mean the homestead of Thorne.

— Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

A location name in Devon, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Yorkshire.

— British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

Thornton is the name of a Northumberland parish. A merchant - prince of Newcastle in the reign of Henry V. bore this name.

— Homes of Family Names in Great Britain (1890) by Henry Brougham Guppy
DNA test information
Display Statistics on:

Thornton Demographics

Average Male Thornton Height

177.43 cm

Average male height (US):
175.3 cm
Sample size: 1,689 (2014)

Average Female Thornton Height

162.94 cm

Average female height (US):
161.5 cm
Sample size: 267 (2014)

Sample is predominantly from Anglosphere countries

View the tallest/shortest surnames in the world

Thornton Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Thornton Come From? nationality or country of origin

Thornton is held by more people in The United States than any other country/territory. It may appear as:. For other possible spellings of this last name click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Thornton? popularity and diffusion

The surname Thornton is the 3,776th most widespread surname at a global level. It is borne by around 1 in 49,028 people. The surname Thornton occurs mostly in The Americas, where 65 percent of Thornton reside; 65 percent reside in North America and 64 percent reside in Anglo-North America. It is also the 144,615th most widely held first name throughout the world, borne by 2,587 people.

It is most frequently occurring in The United States, where it is carried by 102,083 people, or 1 in 3,551. In The United States it is mostly concentrated in: Texas, where 10 percent are found, California, where 7 percent are found and Georgia, where 6 percent are found. Excluding The United States this surname exists in 113 countries. It is also common in England, where 16 percent are found and Australia, where 7 percent are found.

Thornton Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of Thornton has changed over time. In The United States the number of people bearing the Thornton surname increased 559 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it increased 166 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Ireland it increased 148 percent between 1901 and 2014; in Scotland it increased 162 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Wales it increased 366 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Thornton Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those holding the Thornton last name is predominantly Catholic (82%) in Ireland.

In The United States those holding the Thornton surname are 11.68% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than the national average, with 58.45% being registered with the party.

The amount Thornton earn in different countries varies greatly. In Norway they earn 435.19% more than the national average, earning 1,852,190 kr per year; in Peru they earn 66.8% more than the national average, earning S/. 32,335 per year; in South Africa they earn 51.51% more than the national average, earning R 360,036 per year; in United States they earn 4.56% less than the national average, earning $41,181 USD per year and in Canada they earn 6.09% more than the national average, earning $52,708 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ASimilarity (high to low)Similarity (low to high)Prevalent jurisdiction A-ZPrevalent jurisdiction Z-A
SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Thorenton9421/
Thornthon9414/
Thorinton943/
Thorntont943/
Thornnton943/
Thorntonn942/
Thorntone941/
Thorntomn941/
Thorntoin941/
Thorntton940/
Thournton940/
Tornton9337/
D'Thornton891/
Thorinnton891/
Thorindton890/
Thorrenton890/
Thornthont890/
Thorntom888/
Thorntan887/
Tornthon884/
Thernton881/
Tharnton881/
Torrenton828/
Therenton820/
Tarnton801/
Torntan801/
Tharrinton782/
Tharintong781/
Tarntong7511/
Tarenton751/
Tarinton751/
Thorntham711/
Targinton711/
Torntham6321/
Terintan631/
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Thornton Reference & Research

Thornton FamilyTree DNA Group - A group collating DNA test results for those who bear the surname, includes results of DNA tests and discussions.

Thornton FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Thornton
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis