Explore the Family Name Kelton

The meaning of Kelton

Scottish (Lanarkshire): habitational name from the village of Kelton in the parish of the same name in Kirkcudbrightshire. The first element of the placename may be northern Old English celf ‘calf’ or celde ‘spring, well’ + tūn ‘farm, village’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Kelton in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Kelton increased between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 11,903 in popularity, but by 2010 it had risen to 11,572, a change of about 2.78%. Furthermore, the count of individuals with this surname also grew from 2,408 in 2000 to 2,717 in 2010, marking an increase of approximately 12.83%. Consequently, the proportion per 100k people also slightly increased by 3.37% over this decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#11,903	#11,572	2.78%
Count	2,408	2,717	12.83%
Proportion per 100k	0.89	0.92	3.37%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kelton

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Kelton also witnessed some shifts between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. The percentage of Asian/Pacific Islanders and those identifying as two or more races rose by 76% and 17.47% respectively, while the percentage of White individuals decreased by about 3.35%. There was also a substantial increase of 126% in the portion of Hispanics carrying the Kelton surname. The percentages of Black individuals saw a modest rise of around 2.83%, however, the American Indian and Alaskan Native group experienced a slight decrease of 3.30% within the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	84.84%	82%	-3.35%
Black	10.59%	10.89%	2.83%
Hispanic	1.5%	3.39%	126%
Two or More Races	1.66%	1.95%	17.47%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.5%	0.88%	76%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.91%	0.88%	-3.3%