boy's name
Carlton
KARL-tun
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 49,784
Carlton means the settlement of the free peasants, and the word for those peasants became an insult — ceorl gave English churl and churlish, so the name preserves a class that the language later turned against.
- Carlton is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1957, when 962 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 77,101 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Carlton over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 190 |
| 1890s | 259 |
| 1900s | 451 |
| 1910s | 2,840 |
| 1920s | 4,746 |
| 1930s | 5,038 |
| 1940s | 5,393 |
| 1950s | 7,967 |
| 1960s | 7,044 |
| 1970s | 4,859 |
| 1980s | 4,027 |
| 1990s | 3,568 |
| 2000s | 1,610 |
| 2010s | 885 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 290 |
What Carlton means
Carlton means the farmstead of the free peasants. The Old English joins a word for a non-noble freeman to one for a settlement, so it records who worked the land rather than who owned it.
Where Carlton comes from
Carlton is an English place name from ceorl, a free peasant of the lowest free rank, joined to tun, a farmstead or settlement. Ceorl is cognate with the Germanic karl behind Charles and Carolina, but English took the opposite path with it: while karl became royal on the Continent through Charlemagne, ceorl slid downward into churl and churlish. The same word, one language ennobling it and the other using it as an insult.
Carlton in use
Carlton peaked in the United States in 1957, when 962 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 2898th in the United States on 43 births and 3043rd in England and Wales on 7, across 49,784 lifetime births in three of the seven markets we track. England and Wales ran its own peak of 40 births in 1996, and our records carry the name from 1880.
How popular is Carlton?
In 2025, Carlton was given to 43 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Carlton is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Carlton
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Carlton also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Carlton over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Carlton
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Carlton in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Carlton
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Carlton — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Carlton
What does the name Carlton mean?
The settlement of the free peasants — ceorl joined to tun.
Is churlish related?
Directly. Ceorl became churl, and churlish followed.
Is it connected to Charles?
The same Germanic root took opposite paths — royal on the Continent, an insult in English.
How popular is Carlton?
2898th in the United States, down from a 1957 peak of 962 births.
Is Carlton a girl's or a boy's name?
Carlton is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Carlton?
Carlton has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Carlton?
Carlton is usually shortened to Carl.
Is Carlton a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Carlton currently ranks #2,898 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.