Custer
A surname derived from the Old French word "coste" meaning "rib" or "slope".
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Custer. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Custer today is around 84 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Custer births was 1917 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Custer. 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
- • The typical person named Custer is about 84 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Custers were born before 1952.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Custer. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
1917
15 babies that year
Average age
84
years old
1950 SSA rank
#3,790
Tracked since 1904
Popularity
Custer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Custer from the 1900s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 58 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Custer 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 Custer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Custers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Custer
The given name Custer is an English name derived from the Middle English word "custor", which means "a person who takes care of something". This word originated from the Anglo-Norman French word "custour", which in turn came from the Latin word "custos", meaning "guardian" or "keeper".
Custer was initially used as an occupational surname for those who were responsible for guarding or maintaining something, such as a castle or a church. Over time, it transitioned into a given name, particularly in English-speaking countries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Custer dates back to the 13th century, when it was mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of England, a census-like record of landowners and tenants compiled in 1274-1279.
Perhaps the most famous bearer of the name Custer is George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876), a United States Army officer and cavalry commander who played a significant role in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. He is best known for his defeat and death at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, where his forces were overwhelmed by combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes.
Another notable individual named Custer was Elizabeth Bacon Custer (1842-1933), the wife of George Armstrong Custer. She was an author and public speaker who worked to preserve her husband's legacy and promote his military career.
In the world of literature, Custer Weatherhead is a character in the novel "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain, published in 1876. Custer Weatherhead is described as a schoolmate of Tom Sawyer and one of the members of Tom's gang.
In the realm of sports, Custer Melvin (1921-1990) was an American baseball player who played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red Sox in the 1940s.
Finally, Custer Gallatin (1885-1968) was an American artist and illustrator known for his western-themed paintings and illustrations. He is particularly renowned for his depictions of Native American life and the American frontier.
People
Custer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Custer 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
Custer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Custer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Custer 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Custer a common name?
We classify Custer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 124 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Custer most popular?
The single biggest year for Custer was 1917, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Custer is about 84 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Custer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Custer a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Custer 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 Custer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Custer 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 Custer 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Custer as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.