Afton

Where Afton comes from

Afton hasn't made it into the dictionaries we draw on, and nobody well known enough for an encyclopedia has carried it yet — so for now its story is the one the SSA record tells. Names that spell a familiar sound a new way often live here for a while before anyone writes them down.

Along the way
  1. 1895
    First appearance
    #1,426 among girls, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1917
    Peak, #784
    78 babies named Afton — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1927
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #1,362.
  4. 1964
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  5. 1967
    Afton Smith born
    American actress
  6. 1984
    Afton Williamson born
    American actress
In the dictionary

No dictionary entry for this spelling — which is its own kind of rare.

Namesakes
  • Afton Williamson · American actress, born 1984
  • Afton Smith · American actress, born 1967

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.