boy's name
Colter
KOHL-tər
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 11,353
the United States
#157
2025 births
Colter is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "horse keeper." It comes from colt, a young horse, and its American use owes to John Colter, the first white man known to have seen what is now Yellowstone.
- Colter is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 2,354 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,408 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1971.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Colter over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1970s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1970s | 96 |
| 1980s | 581 |
| 1990s | 965 |
| 2000s | 1,123 |
| 2010s | 1,523 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,417 |
What Colter means
Colter means one who tends colts, from the Old English word for a young horse. The reading black land, sometimes offered by reference works, belongs to a separate Irish surname and has attached itself here by resemblance alone.
Where Colter comes from
Colter is an English occupational surname from colt, a young horse, describing someone who kept or broke them. A separate word, the coulter — the blade fixed ahead of a plowshare, from the Latin culter, a knife — produced the same surname for those who made them. John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition who left it in 1806 to explore alone, became the first person of European descent known to have entered the Yellowstone region; his reports were disbelieved and the area was mockingly called Colter's Hell.
Colter in use
Our data shows Colter peaking in 2025 and still rising, and it appears only in United States records — it has no England and Wales presence at all. It belongs with Stetson, Wyatt and Colton in a distinctly American frontier-surname group with no British counterpart.
How popular is Colter?
In 2025, Colter was given to 2,354 babies in the United States, ranking #157 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Colter 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 Colter
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Colter also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Colter over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Colter
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.
Colter 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 Colter
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Colter — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Colter
What does the name Colter mean?
Colter means "horse keeper," from colt, a young horse. It also comes from coulter, a plow blade.
Who was John Colter?
A member of the Lewis and Clark expedition and the first person of European descent known to have seen the Yellowstone region.
Is Colter used outside America?
Not meaningfully. It appears only in United States records in our data.
How popular is the name Colter?
In 2025, Colter was given to 2,354 babies in the United States, ranking #157 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Colter a girl's or a boy's name?
Colter is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Colter?
Colter has 2 syllables.
When was Colter most popular?
Colter peaked in 2025, when 2,354 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Colter?
Colter is usually shortened to Colt.
Is Colter a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Colter currently ranks #157 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.