first name
CARTER
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 160,407 people named Carter, 76% reported their origin as White, 9.8% as Black and 6.4% as two or more races. 96.1% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Carter peaked in 2015, when 11,395 babies got the name.
At least 216,871 babies have been given the name since 1881. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Carter by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2010s, when it ranked #39. The largest share of babies named Carter, 53.5%, were born in 2013 or later.
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Carter is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Carter has been most common in Utah (2.2×), Idaho (2×), and Nevada (1.8×), and least common in New Mexico (0.44×).
210,192 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Carter
Spelled almost the same
2 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Carter, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Carter ranks #50 of 156,621, with 364,355 people. See Carter as a last name
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🔎 CARTER 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 1,883 Americans Rarer than 51.8% of us Peaked in 2015 with 11,395 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/carter/