The Thornton surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 83,967 people carried this name — #373 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 3,510 people counted. That is up 3% from 81,191 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Thornton surname

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘of Thornton’.

An early record he cites: Roger de Thorntone, Cambridgeshire, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 746 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 54 births for the Thornton name in 1890.

They were registered in all four provinces, most of all in Connacht. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 2,400 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they were born, 1890

Connacht 24
Leinster 21
Ulster 6
Munster 3

Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 43 people named Thornton.

Most of them — 40 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 3 départements, most often Charente.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 40
Charente 1
Côtes-d’Armor 1
Paris 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

37 people named Thornton live in Switzerland.

They live in 5 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Zurich 12
Vaud 11
Bern 5
Geneva 5
Zug 4

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 the Nordic population registers

69 people named Thornton is counted in Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 69

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Thornton was found among the farmers of 5 counties.

It was most frequent in Northumberland: 44 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 227. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Northumberland 44
Durham 24
Yorkshire, West Riding 16
Leicestershire and Rutland 13
Lancashire 10

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland’s registers today

Thornton was recorded 42 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 622nd most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 41. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

137 families named Thornton, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 790 people lived in those households, 5.8 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 4 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Virginia 33
North Carolina 21
Rhode Island 20
Pennsylvania 18
New York 11
South Carolina 11
Massachusetts 8
Maryland 7
New Hampshire 5
Connecticut 2
Vermont 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 265 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Thornton in American newspapers,
1911–1912.

Newspaper page from The Logan Republican carrying the name Thornton
The Logan Republican 1912-09-05
Newspaper page from Burlington Weekly Free Press carrying the name Thornton
Burlington Weekly Free Press 1912-11-14
Newspaper page from Goodwin's Weekly : A Thinking Paper For Thinking People carrying the name Thornton
Goodwin's Weekly : A Thinking Paper For Thinking People 1911-08-12

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 476,870 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Thornton in Australian newspapers,
1810s–2010s.

132,418 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Thornton. The most, 19,181, date from the 1940s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in New South Wales, at 1.3 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 56,685
Victoria 31,656
Queensland 21,806
South Australia 8,909
Western Australia 7,917
Tasmania 4,124
ACT (Canberra) 1,038
Northern Territory 73

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Thornton.

Who carried it

People named Thornton,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Bonnie Thornton
    Bonnie Thornton d. 1920 · singer
  • Roger Thornton d. 1430 · politician
  • Henry Thornton d. 1818 · theatre manager
  • Mairtin Thornton d. 1984 · boxer
  • John Thornton d. 1601 · politician
  • Claude Thornton d. 1939 · presbyter

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Thornton,
in the records of 9 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States7,298 records

7,298 records of the Thornton name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 2,753
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 1,292
  • Other U.S. records 3,253
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Rodney Gardner Thornton

    Born 1941; from Salt Lake City, Utah. U.S. Marine Corps, rifleman; killed in action 1966 in Quang Tri, South Vietnam. Buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Glenn W. Thornton

    Born 1914 in Tennessee. Enlisted 1943 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia; carpenter from Davidson County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 2001, buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Larry G. Thornton

    Born 1932; from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. U.S. Marine Corps; killed in action 1953 in Korea. Buried at Fort Gibson National Cemetery, Oklahoma.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 7,298 records for Thornton in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain).

Australia2,458 records

2,458 records of the Thornton name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 1,210
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 427
  • Other Australian records 821
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record James Powell Thornton

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the St Vincent, sailing from London in 1852. Native of Perth, Perthshire. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1855. Married 1855 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 25.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Jane Thornton

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Stately, sailing from Plymouth in 1849. Native of Cork. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1852. Married 1852 in Richmond, Tasmania.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Joseph Thornton

    Died 1870 in Longford, Tasmania, aged 60. Will registered in Tasmania in 1870.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 2,458 records for Thornton in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Canada238 records

238 records of the Thornton name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 113
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 30
  • Other Canadian records 95
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Jno Thornton

    Came to Ontario in 1878 aboard the Polynesian, landing at Quebec, bound for Port Elgin, Ontario; English.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Gladys Ruth Thornton

    Buried in 1998 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 69.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Mabel Thornton

    Buried in 1958 at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, aged 68.

    Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax.

Showing 3 of 238 records for Thornton in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

United Kingdom173 records

173 records of the Thornton name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 103
  • Stirling Council burial records 46
  • Other British records 24
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Mary A. Thornton

    Died 1972, aged 80; buried at Dunblane Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Geog Christopher Thornton

    Buried in 1849 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 66.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Anne Thornton

    Will proved in 1883; of Llandudno, Carnarvon.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)

Showing 3 of 173 records for Thornton in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

New Zealand73 records

73 records of the Thornton name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 60
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 11
  • Other New Zealand records 2
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Joseph Thornton

    Died 1906, aged 66; buried at Sydenham Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Ernest Richard Thornton

    Buried in 1967 at Totara Memorial Park Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 79.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record William Allan Thornton

    Died 1975, aged 57; buried at Omaka Cemetery, Marlborough.

    Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 73 records for Thornton in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Netherlands27 records

27 records of the Thornton name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 14
  • Dutch population registers 7
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 6
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Robertus Jacobus Thornton

    Married in 1818 in Vlissingen; seaman, born 1791 in Ostende.

    Open Archives, Zeeuws Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Donald Alexander Thornton

    Married in 1946 in Nijmegen; bank clerk.

    Open Archives, Gelders Archief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 27 records for Thornton in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Ireland24 records

24 records of the Thornton name in Ireland County Galway graveyard records
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Peter Thornton

    Died 1972, aged 85; buried at Kilcummin, Co. Galway.

    Galway County Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Bridget Thornton

    Died 1918, aged 76; buried at Lackagh (Old), Co. Galway.

    Galway County Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 24 records for Thornton in Ireland.

Counts: Galway County Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

France6 records

6 records of the Thornton name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Marie Therese Simone Thornton

    Born 1909 in Berneuil (Charente); died 1994 in Valréas (Vaucluse).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Michael Thornton

    Born 1938 in Great Britain; died 1996 in Avignon (Vaucluse).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 2 of 6 records for Thornton in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Norway2 records

2 records of the Thornton name in Norway Norway's 1910 census
  1. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Census record Jens Thornton

    Census of 1910: Lærkendal, Strinden; born 1892 in England.

    Arkivverket, Digitalarkivet, 1910 census (CC BY 3.0 NO)

Showing 1 of 2 records for Thornton in Norway.

Counts: Arkivverket, Digitalarkivet, 1910 census (CC BY 3.0 NO). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Thornton.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Thornton 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.

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