Carder
A unique name with no definitive meaning or origin.
Name Census estimates that about 386 living Americans carry the first name Carder. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Carder today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carder births was 2010 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carder. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
386
~ 1 in 887,965 Americans
Peak year
2010
30 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,503
Tracked since 1993
Popularity
Carder: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carder from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 201 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carder by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Carder during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carders live
Origin
Meaning and history of Carder
The name Carder is believed to have its origins in the Middle English word "carder," which referred to a person who carded wool or prepared it for spinning. This occupation-based name likely emerged during the medieval period in England, when the wool trade was a significant industry.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, the name Carder was primarily found in records from various regions of England, such as Yorkshire and Norfolk, where wool production and textile manufacturing were prominent. It may have been derived from the Old French word "cardere," which also meant a wool-carder or comber.
While the name Carder does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is notable that the wool industry played a significant role in the economies and cultures of many regions during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Carder can be found in the 1379 Poll Tax records for Yorkshire, where a John Carder is mentioned. Another early example is William Carder, who was listed in the 1524 Subsidy Rolls for Norfolk.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Carder, including:
1. Sir John Carder (1556-1629), an English merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1609.
2. William Carder (1617-1677), an English clergyman and academic who served as the President of St. John's College, Oxford.
3. Thomas Carder (1692-1772), an English landowner and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Taunton from 1741 to 1761.
4. Joseph Carder (1787-1860), an English industrialist and pioneer in the glass industry, known for his innovations in glassmaking techniques.
5. George Carder (1839-1910), an American businessman and politician who served as the 14th Governor of Kansas from 1899 to 1903.
While the name Carder has its roots in an occupational title from medieval England, it has endured through the centuries and been carried by individuals from various walks of life, including merchants, clergy, politicians, and industrialists.
People
Carder + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carder as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Carder: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carder?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 386 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carder going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 887,965 US residents.
Is Carder a common name?
We classify Carder as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 390 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carder most popular?
The single biggest year for Carder was 2010, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carder is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Carder a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carder in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.