Kutter
A German name meaning "someone who builds small boats or canoes".
Name Census estimates that about 573 living Americans carry the first name Kutter. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kutter today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kutter births was 2023 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kutter. 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
573
~ 1 in 598,175 Americans
Peak year
2023
34 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,557
Tracked since 1990
Census
Kutter in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 370 people with the first name Kutter, which placed it at #25,584 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
#25,584
National first-name rank
People counted
370
370 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kutter
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kutter is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Kutter 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 Kutter at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.7% · 332
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 16
- Two or more races3.8% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 8
Popularity
Kutter: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kutter 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 232 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kutter remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kutter 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 Kutter during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kutters live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri recorded the most babies named Kutter, while Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 93 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kutter
The name Kutter has its origins in the German language and is derived from the Middle High German word "kuttner," which means "furrier" or "maker of fur garments." This occupational surname later evolved into a given name, reflecting the bearer's ancestry or profession.
Kutter is believed to have first emerged as a personal name in the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century, when surnames were becoming more widespread in German-speaking regions of Europe. During this era, occupational surnames were commonly adopted, often reflecting a person's trade or craft.
While there are no recorded instances of the name Kutter appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is likely that individuals with this name worked as furriers or were involved in the fur trade. The earliest known example of the name Kutter can be traced back to Johannes Kutter, a furrier who lived in the city of Nuremberg, Germany, in the 15th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kutter. One such person was Johann Kutter (1726-1792), a Swiss theologian and philosopher who made significant contributions to the study of metaphysics and ethics. Another was Karl Kutter (1857-1917), a German architect and urban planner who played a vital role in the development of modern city planning and the Garden City movement.
In the 20th century, Kutter was the name of Paul Kutter (1892-1972), a Swiss lawyer and diplomat who served as the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross from 1960 to 1964. Additionally, Erhard Kutter (1909-1995) was a German physicist renowned for his contributions to the field of nuclear physics and his work on particle accelerators.
Another individual with the name Kutter was Markus Kutter (1946-2005), a Swiss artist and sculptor known for his large-scale public art installations and abstract sculptures. His works can be found in various cities across Europe and the United States.
While the name Kutter may not be as common today as it once was, it remains a unique and historically significant name with deep roots in the German language and culture. Its origins reflect the importance of craftsmanship and skilled labor in medieval times, serving as a reminder of the rich heritage and traditions that have shaped our understanding of occupations and surnames.
People
Kutter + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kutter as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kutter: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kutter?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 573 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kutter 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 598,175 US residents.
Is Kutter a common name?
We classify Kutter as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 579 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kutter most popular?
The single biggest year for Kutter was 2023, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kutter is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kutter in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 370 people with the name Kutter, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,584 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 Kutter 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 Kutter?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kutter leans strongly male. 367 people counted with this name were male (96.6%), compared with 13 female bearers (3.4%). 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 Kutter?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kutter is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Kutter most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kutter in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.7% (332 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 Kutter in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kutter a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kutter 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 Kutter still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kutter 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 Kutter 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 common is the name Kutter?
See how many people have the name Kutter on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.