The Canton surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 2,353 people carried this name — #13,049 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 125,000 people counted. That is up 8% from 2,178 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Canton surname
A topographical surname from French.
The surname is of French or Galician origin.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Canton» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 1,330 people named Canton live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 970 people named Canton.
180 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 69 départements, most often Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
66 people named Canton live in Switzerland.
They live in 9 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Geneva.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In print
Canton in American newspapers,
1896–1922.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,057,080 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Canton,
with a public archive behind them.
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John Canton 1718–1772 · physicist -
William Canton 1845–1926 · writer -
Paul Place Canton 1862–1908 · painter
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W. V. 1890–1901
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Louis Canton 1907–1942 · electrician
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Philippe Canton 1935–2007 · physician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Canton.
- Cantero 2,253 · U.S. census
- Cantie 112 · U.S. census
- Cantillon 217 · U.S. census
- Cantin 1,389 · U.S. census
- Cantini 121 · U.S. census
- Canto 1,918 · U.S. census
- Cantone 836 · U.S. census
- Cantoni 348 · U.S. census
- Cantore 347 · U.S. census
- Cantos 890 · U.S. census
- Cantrel 229 · U.S. census
- Cantrelle 652 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Canton is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.