Fulton is a Scottish and English surname from a place name that means "settlement of the birds" or "fowl enclosure", from the Old English fugol, bird, and tun, enclosure. Robert Fulton, builder of the first commercially successful steamboat, gave the name to streets and counties across the United States. Fulton moved from number 4271 in 2000 to a peak of number 2054 in 2020 and stands at number 2153 in 2025.