Holton
Masculine · “the farm in the hollow”
Holton is a farm in a hollow, or a farm among holly — Old English had two similar words and the place-names built on them have been confused for a thousand years. Either way it describes real ground.
How old is the name Holton?
Holton first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Holton is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Holton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Holton most popular?
Holton peaked in 2021, reaching #2552 nationally. Today it ranks #3036, 484 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Where it comes from
From hol tun to Holton
The story of Holton
Anglo-Saxon place-names describe the ground with real precision — the hollow, the holly, the ford, the clearing — and Holton is one of a very large family built on tun, which named an enclosed farmstead and eventually gave English the word town. Families from those places carried the name away as a surname, and it reached America early. Its use as a given name is recent, part of the current wave of two-syllable English surnames used at the front of the name.
Meaningscholars disagree
the farm in the hollow — or among the holly
Old English hol means a hollow or a depression in the ground, and holegn means holly; both combine with tun, 'farmstead'. Holton appears in several English counties and place-name scholars read individual sites differently depending on the local landscape. The tun is certain and the first element is genuinely open.
How the name formed
- hol tun
- Holton
Pronouncing Holton
HOLE-tun
Two syllables, stress on the first, the second reduced. There is no ambiguity in the sound; the name is straightforward in every American accent.
Nicknames for Holton
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1914
- Most boys named
- 202151 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2552reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%40 in 2025, from 40
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Holton in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Ohio, North Carolina.
Holtons among us
people named Holton are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 42,702 born in 2025 was named Holton
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Kedar test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Holton's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kedar climbed just as high around 1998, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kedar's path sketches the road Holton is walking now.
Holton sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Holton is headed
Holton should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Holton beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Holton in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented English place-name with a plain and traceable structure.
- Holt is a ready short form and a complete name in its own right.
- Two syllables and phonetic spelling, with nothing silent to explain.
- Its first element is genuinely uncertain between a hollow and a holly.
- It is unmistakably a surname and will be read as one on forms.
- Holton, Holten and Houlton all circulate and get confused in writing.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Holton
Masculine · #3036 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Holtons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Holton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Holton in 2025?
- Holton ranks #3036 among US boy names in 2025, with 40 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Holton?
- About 1 in every 42,702 US boys born in 2025 was named Holton — 40 in all.
- Will my child share the name Holton with classmates?
- Holton will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Holton
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Loren#3036 · Williams#3036 · Collier#3036 · Amadou#3036 · Kavion#3036 · Sheppard#3036 · Koi#3036 · Claude#3036
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Holton? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Holton and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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