Fun Facts About the Name Fulton
- More than 2 thousand babies named Fulton: U.S. records list 2,882 babies given the name Fulton from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Fulton Mean?
Fulton is a habitational name from Fulton in Roxburghshire, Scotland. The place name is formed from Old English elements: fūl (foul, muddy, dirty) and tūn (enclosure, settlement, farmstead), giving the literal sense 'muddy settlement' or 'dirty farmstead.' A competing explanation takes the first element as Old English fugol (fowl, bird), which would yield 'fowl enclosure' or 'bird farm.' The second element is agreed; the first is not certain. As a given name, Fulton is a transferred surname and keeps the surname's meaning and origin rather than having a separate etymology.
Fulton Name History & Origins
The place name Fulton belongs to the Old English period, when Angles controlled parts of what is now southern Scotland. The surname that grew from it is a local name, identifying a person by the place he came from. In Scotland, local surnames of this kind became hereditary among families associated with the named estate. Fultons are associated with Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, and the surname spread to other parts of Scotland, to Ulster through Scottish settlement, and to North America through Scottish and Ulster emigration.
The surname is familiar in the United States through Robert Fulton (1765 - 1815), the engineer who put a commercially successful steamboat, the Clermont, into service on the Hudson River in 1807. His name was widely commemorated in American place names, including many counties and towns named Fulton. As a given name, Fulton is a transferred use of the surname and is found mainly in the United States. It appears in the name of Fulton J. Sheen (1895 - 1979), an American Catholic bishop and broadcaster, whose mother's family name was Fulton.
How Popular is the Name Fulton?
Fulton recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2024. Its best rank was #607 in 1887.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,153 | 67 | 0.0039% |
| 2024 | #2,061 | 73 | 0.0043% |
| 2023 | #2,516 | 53 | 0.0031% |
| 2022 | #2,359 | 60 | 0.0034% |
| 2021 | #2,084 | 70 | 0.0040% |
| 2020 | #2,052 | 69 | 0.0040% |
| 2019 | #2,153 | 66 | 0.0037% |
| 2018 | #3,321 | 34 | 0.0019% |
| 2017 | #2,430 | 53 | 0.0029% |
| 2016 | #2,852 | 42 | 0.0022% |
| 2015 | #3,260 | 35 | 0.0018% |
| 2014 | #2,351 | 55 | 0.0029% |
| 2013 | #3,691 | 28 | 0.0015% |
| 2012 | #3,562 | 30 | 0.0016% |
| 2011 | #4,146 | 24 | 0.0013% |
| 2010 | #6,148 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2009 | #6,203 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2008 | #7,364 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 2007 | #8,411 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 2006 | #6,597 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2005 | #4,530 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2004 | #5,915 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2003 | #5,119 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2002 | #7,231 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2001 | #6,613 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2000 | #4,271 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 1999 | #5,425 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1998 | #6,482 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1997 | #5,783 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1996 | #4,458 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 1995 | #4,608 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1994 | #6,015 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1993 | #6,410 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1992 | #6,927 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1991 | #4,310 | 13 | 0.0006% |
| 1990 | #6,665 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1989 | #4,357 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1988 | #4,924 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1987 | #7,337 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1986 | #4,234 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1985 | #6,043 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1983 | #5,716 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #6,690 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1981 | #5,114 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1980 | #3,939 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1979 | #6,388 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1978 | #5,311 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1977 | #4,313 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1976 | #3,820 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1975 | #2,802 | 14 | 0.0009% |
| 1974 | #5,483 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1973 | #3,815 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1972 | #2,883 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1971 | #2,729 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1970 | #3,143 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1969 | #2,594 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1968 | #3,473 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1967 | #1,992 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1966 | #1,840 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 1965 | #1,949 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1964 | #2,352 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1963 | #1,919 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 1962 | #1,916 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 1961 | #1,708 | 23 | 0.0011% |
| 1960 | #2,355 | 13 | 0.0006% |
| 1959 | #1,530 | 27 | 0.0013% |
| 1958 | #1,609 | 24 | 0.0011% |
| 1957 | #1,645 | 24 | 0.0011% |
| 1956 | #1,691 | 22 | 0.0010% |
| 1955 | #1,699 | 21 | 0.0010% |
| 1954 | #1,280 | 35 | 0.0017% |
| 1953 | #1,294 | 34 | 0.0017% |
| 1952 | #1,471 | 27 | 0.0014% |
| 1951 | #1,471 | 26 | 0.0014% |
| 1950 | #1,262 | 33 | 0.0018% |
| 1949 | #1,152 | 38 | 0.0021% |
| 1948 | #1,203 | 36 | 0.0021% |
| 1947 | #1,307 | 32 | 0.0017% |
| 1946 | #1,338 | 28 | 0.0017% |
| 1945 | #1,282 | 27 | 0.0020% |
| 1944 | #1,346 | 25 | 0.0018% |
| 1943 | #1,130 | 37 | 0.0026% |
| 1942 | #1,304 | 29 | 0.0021% |
| 1941 | #1,384 | 24 | 0.0020% |
| 1940 | #1,534 | 20 | 0.0017% |
| 1939 | #1,334 | 25 | 0.0023% |
| 1938 | #1,230 | 29 | 0.0026% |
| 1937 | #1,292 | 27 | 0.0025% |
| 1936 | #1,518 | 20 | 0.0019% |
| 1935 | #1,512 | 21 | 0.0020% |
| 1934 | #1,400 | 24 | 0.0023% |
| 1933 | #1,472 | 22 | 0.0022% |
| 1932 | #1,400 | 25 | 0.0024% |
| 1931 | #1,876 | 16 | 0.0015% |
| 1930 | #1,616 | 21 | 0.0019% |
| 1929 | #1,098 | 40 | 0.0037% |
| 1928 | #1,135 | 39 | 0.0035% |
| 1927 | #1,301 | 32 | 0.0028% |
| 1926 | #1,228 | 35 | 0.0032% |
| 1925 | #1,287 | 32 | 0.0029% |
| 1924 | #1,363 | 30 | 0.0026% |
| 1923 | #1,143 | 39 | 0.0036% |
| 1922 | #1,206 | 36 | 0.0033% |
| 1921 | #1,022 | 47 | 0.0043% |
| 1920 | #1,358 | 29 | 0.0027% |
| 1919 | #1,171 | 36 | 0.0037% |
| 1918 | #1,182 | 35 | 0.0035% |
| 1917 | #1,046 | 40 | 0.0043% |
| 1916 | #1,005 | 41 | 0.0046% |
| 1915 | #946 | 44 | 0.0052% |
| 1914 | #1,199 | 24 | 0.0037% |
| 1913 | #1,033 | 24 | 0.0047% |
| 1912 | #950 | 23 | 0.0053% |
| 1911 | #698 | 21 | 0.0093% |
| 1910 | #797 | 15 | 0.0077% |
| 1909 | #774 | 14 | 0.0085% |
| 1908 | #853 | 11 | 0.0071% |
| 1907 | #1,408 | 5 | 0.0034% |
| 1905 | #1,305 | 5 | 0.0038% |
| 1904 | #1,272 | 5 | 0.0039% |
| 1903 | #1,058 | 6 | 0.0050% |
| 1902 | #969 | 7 | 0.0057% |
| 1901 | #749 | 9 | 0.0085% |
| 1900 | #1,221 | 6 | 0.0040% |
| 1898 | #1,051 | 6 | 0.0049% |
| 1893 | #951 | 6 | 0.0053% |
| 1892 | #1,134 | 5 | 0.0041% |
| 1887 | #607 | 10 | 0.0099% |
| 1884 | #896 | 6 | 0.0052% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Fulton Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are kind, home-loving, hospitable and friendly. Since you take responsibility well, you are a good organizer of social affairs. Compassion for others is an outstanding trait. You are a great lover and a great flirt – an artist, musician, actor, teacher, nurse. Your character can be contradictory. You are practical, yet idealistic and intuitive; capable of selfless devotion to someone you love, yet look to receive payback. Emergencies may raise your intuitive abilities in order to resolve conflict or situation. You become very creative under the pressure, and have quite original ideas to make the best out of it.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Fulton's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Fulton's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.