Newton
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Meaning
new town, new settlement; a surname-style tribute to Sir Isaac Newton, who formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation
The story
Newton began as an English place name, plain and sturdy: new town, the new settlement, one of the most common village names in England, which is why so many families carried it as a surname. As a first name it is above all a tribute to Sir Isaac Newton, the seventeenth-century genius who formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation and, in his Principia, gave physics its foundation for the next two centuries. American parents used Newton most during the surname-name fashion of the late 1800s and early 1900s; it eased off after the 1920s and has held a quiet, steady place in the records ever since. That makes it a rarity of a useful kind: instantly familiar, easy to spell, heavy with genius, yet unlikely to be shared with anyone else in the classroom.
How popular is Newton around the world?
In the United States, 148 babies were named Newton between 2020 and 2025. At the 2022 census, 8,198 people in Brazil were named Newton, ranked 1,952nd, with a median age of 57.
Newton is on the official records of the United States, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 150,000
In the United States, 148 babies were named Newton between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Newton peaked in the 1890s and the 1920s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Brazil
1 in 25,000
At the 2022 census, 8,198 people in Brazil were named Newton, ranked 1,952nd, with a median age of 57.
Among people named Newton living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1960s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 23 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 1.7M
In Spain, 26 residents are named Newton, ranked 24,889th among men, with a mean age of 40.9 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Austria
last on record 2005
Newton is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Canada
last on record 2021
Newton is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
last on record 2023
Newton is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Montevideo City
last on record 1989
Newton is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
South Australia
last on record 1999
Newton is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
The Newton deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Newton truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Newton fits with your family’s names and surname.
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