How to say it
ASH · ton
/ˈæʃ.tən/
Unisex
Ashton
Ash-tree town
What it means
Old English place name from æsc ('ash tree') + tūn ('town'). Ashton Kutcher made the name a recognized modern American first name; That '70s Show + Punk'd era anchored its early-2000s usage.
Ashton is an English place name from Old English æsc ('ash tree') + tūn ('town, settlement'). Multiple villages in England carry the name (Ashton-under-Lyne, Ashton-in-Makerfield). The surname has been common since the medieval period. Ashton Kutcher (the actor, born 1978) is the dominant English-language cultural anchor for the first-name usage — That '70s Show (1998-2006) and Punk'd (2003-2007) put him on screens during a peak naming year. As a first name Ashton surged in the US in the late 1990s and 2000s, peaking around 2005. It's now sliding gently. No common short.
Popularity over time
Feminine: peaked at #260 in 1989, currently #2173 in 2025.
Masculine: peaked at #76 in 2004, currently #197 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Pop culture
Ashton Kutcher (That '70s Show, Punk'd, Two and a Half Men, then tech investing) is the inescapable English-language anchor.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Ashton Kutcher American actor and investor, That '70s Show and Punk'd
Spelling variants
- Ashtyn
- Ashten
Names with the same feeling
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