Ashton
Ashton was the 197th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 1,801 babies. Its best year was 2004, when it ranked 76th with 5,436 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 56 places. More babies were named Ashton in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Meaning ash-tree farmstead (place name) · Old English
Say it ASH-tuhn /ˈæʃtən/
- Rank in 2025
- #197 boys, down 61 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 1,801boys
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 20045,436 babies
- Total since 1880
- 107,927babies recorded
What does the name Ashton mean?
Ashton is a common English place name joining Old English aesc, 'ash tree', and tun, 'farmstead, settlement', so 'farm by the ash trees'. It became a surname and then a first name. Wikipedia notes that Ashton was used more for American girls in the late 1980s and 1990s, after a character in the 1985 miniseries North and South, and that the actor Ashton Kutcher later boosted it for boys.
æsc (Old English, “ash tree”)tūn (Old English, “farmstead, settlement”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Ashten, Ashtyn, Ash.
See also: English names, names that mean tree, names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Ashton', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation); facts restated, no text reused
- Wikipedia, 'Ashton (given name)', Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation); facts restated, no text reused
Nicknames for Ashton
The usual nicknames for Ashton are Ash. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 boys named Ashton in the last five years, 9 were named Ash, against fewer than 1 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Boys, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ash · also for Asher, Ashley, Ashlyn | Modern | #1,177 | 960 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are boys given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Ashtons go by each one.
Ashton popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,173 | #197 | 85 | 1,801 |
| 2020 | #1,433 | #136 | 152 | 2,712 |
| 2010 | #1,299 | #127 | 181 | 3,234 |
| 2000 | #354 | #254 | 868 | 1,315 |
| 1990 | #332 | #367 | 832 | 637 |
| 1980 | #10,515 | #1,145 | 5 | 63 |
| 1970 | — | #1,746 | — | 25 |
| 1960 | — | #2,212 | — | 14 |
| 1950 | — | #2,443 | — | 10 |
| 1940 | — | #1,631 | — | 18 |
| 1930 | — | #1,602 | — | 21 |
| 1920 | — | #1,348 | — | 29 |
| 1910 | — | — | — | — |
| 1900 | — | #1,175 | — | 6 |
| 1890 | — | — | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — |
How popular is Ashton, counting every spelling?
Ashton is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #212 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #197 for Ashton on its own. Together these spellings went to 1,853 boys in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashton | 1,801 | #197 | 11,281 |
| Ashten | 30 | #3,665 | 153 |
| Ashtin | 22 | #4,555 | 128 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Ashton?
1,801 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Ashton (0.50 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Ashton born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 5 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Ashton.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Ashton?
About 86,200 people born in the US named Ashton are alive today, with a median age of 16; half are between 9 and 22. That makes Ashton mostly worn by children and young adults.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Ashton by state
How common Ashton was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Mississippi (3.1×), West Virginia (2.2×), District of Columbia (2.1×), Louisiana (2.0×), Georgia (1.9×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Rhode Island, California, Vermont.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Ashton: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Ashton, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Ashton · Sibling names for Ashton
Questions about the name Ashton
What does Ashton mean?
Ashton means “ash-tree farmstead (place name)” (Old English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Ashton?
Ashton was the 197th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 1,801 babies. Its best year was 2004, when it ranked 76th with 5,436 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 56 places. More babies were named Ashton in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Is Ashton a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Ashton in the US.
Where is Ashton most popular?
In 2021–2025, Ashton was most common in Mississippi (4.03 per 1,000 boys), followed by West Virginia and District of Columbia.