Melton
Masculine
The -ton ending was an enclosure long before it was a town. Old English tun meant a fence, then the land inside it, then a farmstead, and only much later a place with streets — so the hundreds of English place names ending in it are describing farms rather than settlements. Melton is one of them, and its first half is argued about.
How old is the name Melton?
Melton first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Melton alive today was born around 1941, making them about 84 years old. About 1,800 people named Melton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Melton most popular?
Melton peaked in 1888, reaching #505 nationally. See the whole 1888 chart.
Where it comes from
From tun to Melton
The story of Melton
Melton Mowbray got its second half from the Mowbray family, Norman lords who held it after the conquest, and the town is now better known for pork pies and for being the place Stilton cheese is actually made. That double-barrelled shape is how England distinguishes its many identically named villages — Melton Mowbray, Melton Constable, Melton Ross. The plain surname crossed to America and became a given name for sons in the nineteenth century, particularly in the South, by the usual route.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
Two readings compete. Old Norse medal, middle, gives a middle farmstead — the reading usually given for Melton Mowbray, which sat between others. Old English mylen, a mill, gives a mill farmstead, which fits other Meltons. English place names of this shape often cannot be separated, and the recorded spellings support both. The -ton half is certain: an enclosure or farmstead, not a town in the modern sense.
How the name formed
- tun
- Meltone
- Melton
Pronouncing Melton
MEL-tun
MEL-tun, two syllables, stress at the front, the second vowel reduced to almost nothing. There is no ambiguity in it; every letter does what an English reader expects.
Nicknames for Melton
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
- 1882
- Most boys named
- 192180 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #505reached in 1888
- Change vs 2010
- 0.0%5 in 2015, from 5
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.
Meltons among us
people named Melton are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Melton sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Both possible readings are documented English and Norse words with concrete meanings.
- Mel is a ready short form and a complete name of its own.
- Two syllables with a firm front stress, which carries a long surname easily.
- It reads as a surname to most people and will be taken for one on a form.
- The origin cannot be settled, so any meaning offered is a choice between two.
- The name is strongly associated with the first half of the last century.
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Melton
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Meltons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,800 people named Melton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Melton in 2025?
- Melton is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Melton with classmates?
- Melton will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Michael#21 · Matthew#32 · Mark#244 · Mason#39 · Martin#335 · Marvin#699 · Melvin#958 · Marcus#258
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Melton? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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