Carter

What Carter means

Means “son of Arthur”

As an Irish name, from Irish Mac Artúir (literally “son of Arthur”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Carter” (revision 94535337), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Carter?

US: Falling: down from #24 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #94 in 2015, #97 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2015, when 10,814 boys got the name (#24 that year). First in the US records in 1881.

How common

• About 1 in 284 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 507 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 302 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WY (14.68 per 1,000 boys), NH (10.44 per 1,000 boys), DE (9.16 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Carter is #45 in the US and #97 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 89.9% of US babies named Carter were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Karter1,265 US · 35 E&W
• Kartar9 US · 23 E&W
• Carder12 US
• Karder6 US
• Cartyr5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Carter

Boys

• Camden#205“enclosure + valley”^*
• Jaxon#115Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #44 in 2015, #115 in 2025
• Bryson#152Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #152 vs #1,066 in 2025
• Cason#846“house”^*
• Maddox#209Editor’s note Down from #148 in 2015 to #209 in 2025 in the US
• Finnegan#526“descendant of Fionnagán”^*

For a sister

• Avery#37Editor’s note Used for both: 82% of US babies named Avery in 2025 were girls
• Piper#155Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #67 in 2015, #155 in 2025
• Teagan#340Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1979, with 6 babies
• Raegan#505Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1963, with 9 babies
• Rylee#137Variant of Riley, meaning “rye + clearing, meadow”^*
• Brynlee#243Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1995, with 5 babies

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Carter’s. Rank is US 2025.