How popular is the name Carter?

Carter ranks 167th among boys' names in US records, with 242,651 births since 1881. Over the past decade it accounts for 102,587.

Is Carter a unisex name?

No. Carter is recorded almost entirely as a boys' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.

2015, when 13,105 children were given the name. It has been in use for 144 years and is still recorded as of 2024.

Karter. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.

Boy name#167 of boy names

Pronounced K AA1 R T ER0 (ARPABET)

Carter is a boys' name, and first appears in 1881. It has been given to 242,651 children — the 167th most common boys' name on record.

Its use has been broadly flat across the past two decades. Its best single year was 2015, when 13,105 children were given it.

Karter is counted with it here, since the two are pronounced identically.

2015Boys: 13,105Girls: 991

These spellings sound identical to Carter and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.

Phonetic detail

Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.

Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.

Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.

How popular is the name Carter?: Carter ranks 167th among boys' names in US records, with 242,651 births since 1881. Over the past decade it accounts for 102,587.
Is Carter a unisex name?: No. Carter is recorded almost entirely as a boys' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
When was Carter most popular?: 2015, when 13,105 children were given the name. It has been in use for 144 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
How else is Carter spelled?: Karter. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.