Primarily a boy's name · 96% boys
Origin: EnglishIn Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Carter yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.
Carter's raw count peaked in 2015 at 10,814 and its rank peaked the same year at #24 — one of the rare cases in this batch where count and rank moved together instead of one lagging the other.
Since then it's dropped to #45, with 6,267 births in 2024 — 41% below its count a decade earlier, a steeper fall than Jackson's despite the earlier alignment between count and rank at the top.
Its famous-bearer list is thin and entirely contemporary — composer Carter Burwell, actor Carter Jenkins — with no historical figure predating the name's own rise, suggesting Carter's popularity was never really borrowed from an existing namesake the way Elizabeth's or Thomas's was.
Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.
→ See names similar to Carter · Compare Carter with another name → · Popular names of the 2010s · Boys names starting with C
Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1881 | 12 | #506 |
| 1883 | 11 | #561 |
| 1884 | 13 | #526 |
| 1885 | 10 | #613 |
| 1886 | 15 | #474 |
| 1887 | 13 | #495 |
| 1888 | 15 | #507 |
| 1889 | 11 | #591 |
| 1890 | 8 | #757 |
| 1891 | 13 | #500 |
| 1892 | 18 | #464 |
| 1893 | 13 | #545 |
| 1894 | 16 | #504 |
| 1895 | 9 | #746 |
| 1896 | 13 | #602 |
| 1897 | 16 | #501 |
| 1898 | 14 | #580 |
| 1899 | 14 | #524 |
| 1900 | 31 | #403 |
| 1901 | 13 | #569 |
| 1902 | 11 | #696 |
| 1903 | 23 | #415 |
| 1904 | 25 | #418 |
| 1905 | 16 | #595 |
| 1906 | 15 | #620 |
| 1907 | 18 | #595 |
| 1908 | 25 | #500 |
| 1909 | 22 | #559 |
| 1910 | 26 | #557 |
| 1911 | 26 | #597 |
| 1912 | 45 | #612 |
| 1913 | 37 | #780 |
| 1914 | 92 | #509 |
| 1915 | 78 | #658 |
| 1916 | 83 | #641 |
| 1917 | 91 | #620 |
| 1918 | 95 | #628 |
| 1919 | 107 | #580 |
| 1920 | 98 | #636 |
| 1921 | 83 | #723 |
| 1922 | 93 | #666 |
| 1923 | 83 | #712 |
| 1924 | 112 | #604 |
| 1925 | 89 | #679 |
| 1926 | 89 | #671 |
| 1927 | 85 | #702 |
| 1928 | 78 | #724 |
| 1929 | 71 | #754 |
| 1930 | 62 | #824 |
| 1931 | 78 | #678 |
| 1932 | 68 | #766 |
| 1933 | 77 | #670 |
| 1934 | 97 | #597 |
| 1935 | 101 | #576 |
| 1936 | 98 | #582 |
| 1937 | 99 | #580 |
| 1938 | 106 | #568 |
| 1939 | 77 | #675 |
| 1940 | 88 | #635 |
| 1941 | 109 | #569 |
| 1942 | 112 | #588 |
| 1943 | 130 | #553 |
| 1944 | 122 | #548 |
| 1945 | 124 | #537 |
| 1946 | 149 | #524 |
| 1947 | 178 | #502 |
| 1948 | 150 | #543 |
| 1949 | 178 | #495 |
| 1950 | 170 | #515 |
| 1951 | 172 | #523 |
| 1952 | 156 | #559 |
| 1953 | 161 | #557 |
| 1954 | 191 | #528 |
| 1955 | 149 | #607 |
| 1956 | 176 | #574 |
| 1957 | 140 | #650 |
| 1958 | 165 | #601 |
| 1959 | 132 | #666 |
| 1960 | 139 | #664 |
| 1961 | 132 | #674 |
| 1962 | 130 | #680 |
| 1963 | 158 | #621 |
| 1964 | 132 | #669 |
| 1965 | 113 | #698 |
| 1966 | 127 | #656 |
| 1967 | 140 | #634 |
| 1968 | 124 | #675 |
| 1969 | 150 | #646 |
| 1970 | 156 | #655 |
| 1971 | 191 | #600 |
| 1972 | 163 | #617 |
| 1973 | 131 | #700 |
| 1974 | 142 | #686 |
| 1975 | 162 | #637 |
| 1976 | 158 | #651 |
| 1977 | 121 | #773 |
| 1978 | 71 | #1,034 |
| 1979 | 65 | #1,108 |
| 1980 | 93 | #924 |
| 1981 | 86 | #973 |
| 1982 | 119 | #810 |
| 1983 | 117 | #810 |
| 1984 | 137 | #744 |
| 1985 | 177 | #661 |
| 1986 | 182 | #665 |
| 1987 | 213 | #625 |
| 1988 | 265 | #569 |
| 1989 | 294 | #565 |
| 1990 | 334 | #549 |
| 1991 | 391 | #498 |
| 1992 | 487 | #450 |
| 1993 | 550 | #419 |
| 1994 | 544 | #421 |
| 1995 | 919 | #286 |
| 1996 | 1,216 | #243 |
| 1997 | 1,540 | #204 |
| 1998 | 1,800 | #189 |
| 1999 | 1,944 | #179 |
| 2000 | 2,550 | #152 |
| 2001 | 3,435 | #111 |
| 2002 | 3,480 | #108 |
| 2003 | 4,171 | #102 |
| 2004 | 5,009 | #89 |
| 2005 | 5,899 | #77 |
| 2006 | 6,433 | #75 |
| 2007 | 6,101 | #80 |
| 2008 | 7,069 | #65 |
| 2009 | 8,173 | #50 |
| 2010 | 8,164 | #48 |
| 2011 | 8,608 | #41 |
| 2012 | 9,272 | #36 |
| 2013 | 9,589 | #33 |
| 2014 | 10,690 | #27 |
| 2015 | 10,814 | #24 |
| 2016 | 10,218 | #26 |
| 2017 | 9,831 | #24 |
| 2018 | 9,382 | #24 |
| 2019 | 8,682 | #30 |
| 2020 | 7,575 | #33 |
| 2021 | 7,202 | #39 |
| 2022 | 6,356 | #47 |
| 2023 | 5,870 | #48 |
| 2024 | 6,267 | #45 |
