boy's name
Carter
KAR-ter
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 100 (US)
- Births on record 253,029
the United States
#45
2025 births
Carter is a name of English origin meaning "one who transports goods by cart." It began as an occupational surname for a carrier or carter, a common and essential trade in medieval England before roads and vehicles made haulage specialized.
- Carter is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2015, when 11,395 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 495 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1881.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Carter 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 | 100 |
| 1890s | 134 |
| 1900s | 199 |
| 1910s | 685 |
| 1920s | 901 |
| 1930s | 876 |
| 1940s | 1,378 |
| 1950s | 1,676 |
| 1960s | 1,390 |
| 1970s | 1,457 |
| 1980s | 1,844 |
| 1990s | 10,248 |
| 2000s | 53,340 |
| 2010s | 99,669 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 42,974 |
What Carter means
Carter means a person who drives a cart, and by extension a carrier of goods. It is a plain occupational description, in the same family as Baker, Miller, and Wright, naming the work rather than any quality of the person.
Where Carter comes from
Carter comes from the Middle English cartere, from cart, itself from the Old Norse kartr — one of many everyday English words inherited from Norse settlement. Carters moved goods between farms, mills, markets, and ports at a time when almost nothing traveled any distance without one, which made it among the more common occupational surnames in medieval England. The name became fixed as a surname during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Its move to a given name is modern and largely American, part of the same wave that brought Mason, Hudson, and Cooper into first-name use.
How popular is Carter?
In 2025, Carter was given to 6,703 babies in the United States, ranking #45 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Where Carter 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 Carter
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Carter also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Carter over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Carter 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.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Karter
Sibling names for Carter
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Carter — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Carter
What does the name Carter mean?
Carter means "one who transports goods by cart," from the medieval occupational term.
Was Carter originally a surname?
Yes. Carter was one of the more common English occupational surnames before becoming a given name.
Is Carter a boy's or a girl's name?
Carter is given predominantly to boys, though it sees some use for girls.
How popular is the name Carter?
In 2025, Carter was given to 6,703 babies in the United States, ranking #45 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
How many syllables are in Carter?
Carter has 2 syllables.
Is Carter a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Carter currently ranks #45 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.