Coulter
A masculine name of Scottish origin likely referring to a resident near a coulter, the blade that cuts the furrow in a plow.
Name Census estimates that about 800 living Americans carry the first name Coulter. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Coulter today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Coulter births was 2024 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Coulter. 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
800
~ 1 in 428,443 Americans
Peak year
2024
39 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,103
Tracked since 1979
Census
Coulter in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 716 people with the first name Coulter, which placed it at #15,916 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#15,916
National first-name rank
People counted
716
716 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Coulter
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coulter is White at 88.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (2.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Coulter described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Coulter at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.1% · 631
- Two or more races5.3% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 18
- Black or African American2.4% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Popularity
Coulter: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Coulter from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 240 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Coulter remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Coulter 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 Coulter during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Coulters live
Origin
Meaning and history of Coulter
The given name Coulter has its origins in the Scots language, derived from the occupational surname meaning "one who builds ploughs." This name traces its roots back to the Middle Ages in Scotland, where it was often spelled as "Culter" or "Cultor."
The earliest recorded use of the name Coulter can be found in historical documents from the 13th century, where it appeared as a surname in various regions of Scotland. One notable example is Sir Robert Coulter, a Scottish knight who fought in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
As an occupational name, Coulter was primarily associated with the agricultural communities of Scotland, where skilled craftsmen were responsible for the construction and maintenance of ploughs, a crucial tool for farming. This name gained prominence during the Medieval period when agriculture played a vital role in the Scottish economy.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Coulter. One of the earliest recorded examples is John Coulter, a Scottish explorer and botanist who lived from 1804 to 1859. He is known for his expeditions in the American West and his contributions to the study of plant life in the region.
Another famous Coulter was Ann Coulter, an American conservative political commentator and author, born in 1961. She is known for her controversial and outspoken views on various political and social issues.
In the realm of sports, Coulter Woodmansey was a renowned English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in the late 19th century. He was born in 1856 and played as a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper.
Thomas Coulter, a Scottish explorer and botanist, lived from 1793 to 1843. He is known for his extensive travels and contributions to the study of plant life in Mexico and the southwestern United States.
Lastly, Prentice Coulter, an American artist and illustrator, was born in 1894 and is remembered for his illustrations in magazines and books during the early 20th century.
While the name Coulter has its roots in Scotland, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries, where it continues to be used as a given name, carrying with it the historical legacy of its occupational origins.
People
Coulter + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Coulter 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
Coulter: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Coulter?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 800 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Coulter 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 428,443 US residents.
Is Coulter a common name?
We classify Coulter as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 812 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Coulter most popular?
The single biggest year for Coulter was 2024, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Coulter is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Coulter in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 716 people with the name Coulter, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,916 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Coulter in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Coulter?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Coulter leans strongly male. 691 people counted with this name were male (95.8%), compared with 30 female bearers (4.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Coulter?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coulter is White at 88.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (2.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Coulter most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Coulter in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.1% (631 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Coulter in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Coulter a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Coulter 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.
Is Coulter still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Coulter in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Coulter can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people share the name Coulter?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.