Carter
A masculine name, derived from the occupation of transporting goods by cart.
Roughly 204,143 people in the United States go by the first name Carter, which ranks #45 nationally when sorted by estimated living bearers. It is a predominantly male name (95.5% of registrations). The average person named Carter today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carter births was 2015 (11,395 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Paula (202,061).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carter. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Carter is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 9,357 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Carter is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
204K
~ 1 in 1,679 Americans
Peak year
2015
11,395 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#45
Tracked since 1881
Gender
Gender distribution for Carter
Carter leans heavily male at 95.5% of total registrations, but 9,357 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Carter as a male name
- Ranked #45 in 2024
- 6,267 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (10,814 births)
Carter as a female name
- Ranked #507 in 2024
- 604 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (702 births)
Popularity
Carter: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carter from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 99,657 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Carter remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carter 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 Carter during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carters live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Carter, while Hawaii, Rhode Island, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,990 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carter
The name Carter has its origins in the English language and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English word "cretere," which means "carter" or someone who drove a cart or wagon for a living. The name was initially an occupational surname, given to those who worked as carters or transporters of goods.
During the medieval period, the name Carter was predominantly found in England, particularly in regions where the transportation of goods and materials was a significant occupation. As towns and cities grew, the need for carters increased, leading to the widespread use of this occupational surname.
While the name Carter does not have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it does appear in historical records and documents from the medieval era. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name dates back to the late 13th century, when a man named John le Carter was mentioned in the Assize Rolls of Staffordshire in 1292.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Carter. One of the most famous was Elihu Carter (1762-1835), an American Baptist minister and educator who founded the Baptist Theological Seminary at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1819. Another prominent figure was Howard Carter (1874-1939), the English archaeologist and Egyptologist best known for discovering the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922.
Other notable individuals with the name Carter include:
1. Jimmy Carter (born 1924), the 39th President of the United States, who served from 1977 to 1981.
2. Ellsworth Carter (1890-1950), an American composer and conductor known for his orchestral works and film scores.
3. Rebecca Carter (1718-1806), an American revolutionary and activist who played a crucial role in the Siege of Boonesborough during the American Revolutionary War.
4. Elliott Carter (1908-2012), an influential American composer known for his innovative techniques and contributions to modern classical music.
5. Anita Carter (1933-1999), an American singer and member of the popular Carter Family folk music group, alongside her mother Maybelle Carter and sisters June and Helen.
While the name Carter has its roots in occupational surnames, it has transcended its original meaning and become a popular given name in its own right, particularly in English-speaking countries.
People
Carter + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carter 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
Carter: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carter?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 204,143 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carter 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 1,679 US residents.
Is Carter a common name?
We classify Carter as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 210,119 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carter most popular?
The single biggest year for Carter was 2015, when 11,395 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carter is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Carter a male name?
Yes, 95.5% of people registered as Carter 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.