Given name & surname · also Old English
Morton
“from the town near the moor”
Morton is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the town near the moor.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the town near the moor.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Old English.
How it developed
It entered given-name use through an existing surname.
The story
Its naming history includes the use of a family name as a given name.
Morton through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 12,341
- 12,336 boys · 5 girls
- Most popular year
- 1923
- 482 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −68%
- Cooling
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 8 in 2021. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 482 in 1923. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 3,125 as a first name in 2020; 58,028 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Morton’s family of names
Morton has a short form in Mort. Morton has an English adaptation in Morris. Morton is an English adaptation of Moses.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Morton
- Morton FeldmanAmerican composer (1926–1987)
- Morton GouldAmerican composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist (1913–1996)
- Morton BettsEnglish footballer (1847-1914)
- Morton SubotnickAmerican neo-classical composer and avant-garde electronic musician (born 1933)
- Morton KaplanAmerican editor (1921-2017)
- Marty AllenAmerican comedian, actor, and philanthropist (1922-2018)
- Morton SmithAmerican historian and academic (1915–1991)
- Morton StevensAmerican film score composer (1929-1991)
- Morton PrinceAmerican physician who specialized in neurology and abnormal psychology1854–1929
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Morton, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Merton
“from the village near the pond” · “from the town near the lake”
>99% boys
Melton
“from the mill town”
>99% boys
Welton
“from the town near the well”
>99% boys
Linton
“from the flax town”
>99% boys
Norton
“from the northern town”
>99% boys
Malvin
“a leader” · “a friend who offers counsel”
>99% boys
Milford
“from the mill's ford”
>99% boys
Thornton
“from the town of thorn bushes”
>99% boys