Carter
Top 1000
About Carter
Carter has ranked in the Top 100 since the the turn of the millennium, but despite its recent popularity, it's not a trendy new name. In fact, Carter is one of those names that just misses ranking in the US Top 1000 for its entire 140+ year history.
Carter's off its recent popularity peak now, but it's getting some fresh style via Beyonce's country album Cowboy Carter, which references the surname of her husband Jay-Z aka Shawn Carter.
Having hot characters named Carter on both Gossip Girl and The OC probably didn't hurt Carter's rise, along with Noah Wyle's Dr. John Carter on ER, who was always called by his last name. Carter also, of course, has presidential cred.
Carter is especially popular in the Midwest, having recently been Number 2 in Nebraska and Number 3 in Iowa, as well as spreading north to Canadian provinces Saskatchewan (recently Number 2) and Manitoba (recently Number 5). It does straddle the line between country and city, another reason for its longtime appeal.
Pronounced KAR-ter.
As of October 2026, Carter ranked #45 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #24 in 2018, Nameberry popularity #278.
Editor: Sophie Kihm
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #27 | 10,690 | 5,565.2 |
| 2015 | #24 | 10,814 | 5,641.9 |
| 2016 | #26 | 10,218 | 5,384.3 |
| 2017 | #24 | 9,831 | 5,311.3 |
| 2018 | #24 | 9,382 | 5,165.9 |
| 2019 | #30 | 8,682 | 4,838.9 |
| 2020 | #33 | 7,575 | 4,388.6 |
| 2021 | #39 | 7,202 | 4,116.6 |
| 2022 | #47 | 6,356 | 3,640.3 |
| 2023 | #48 | 5,870 | 3,431.6 |
| 2024 | #45 | 6,267 | 3,637.5 |
| 2025 | #45 | 6,024 | 3,526.8 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Carter.
- Mason
- Landon
- Grayson
- Cole
- Riley
- Carson
- Blake
- Cameron
- Hayden
- Greyson
- Logan
- Cooper
- Colton
- Jackson
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- Ashton
- Austin
- Chase
- Parker
- Bryce
Carter on lists
Famous Carters
- Carter Loard Bays
American television showrunner, writer & producer
- Carter Nicholas Oosterhouse
American TV personality
- Carter James Camper
American ice hockey player
- Carter Mark Jenkins
American actor
- Carter Benedict Burwell
American film composer
- Carter Henry Harrison
U.S. Congressman from Illinois
- Carter DeHaven (born Francis O'Callaghan)
American actor
- Carter Tate Barron
American football player and film executive
- Carter Godwin Woodson
American historian and author
- Carter L. Bays
American writer and producer
- Carter Beauford
American drummer for the Dave Matthews Band
- Carter Chasson
American model
- John Carter Cash
American singer,songwriter; son of Johnny and June Carter Cash
- Carter Vanderbilt Cooper
late brother of TV journalist Anderson Cooper
- Carter William Thicke (b. 1999)
son of actor Alan Thicke and Miss World Gina Tolleson; half,brother of singer Robin Thicke
- Carter Sabathia (b. 2010)
son of baseball player CC Sabathia
- Carter Scott McMurray (b. 2010)
son of NASCAR driver Jamie McMurray
- Carter Quick (b. 2013)
son of ice hockey player Jonathan Quick
- Carter Seven Seabrook (b. 2013)
son of ice hockey player Brent Seabrook
- Carter Bridge (b. 2015)
son of singer Frankie Sandford and footballer Wayne Bridge
- Carter John Bruce (b. 2016)
son of baseball player Jay Bruce
- Jimmy Carter
39th US President
- Jim Carter
English actor
- Carter Stone Strauss (b. 2016)
son of American pro wrestler Robbie E
- Carter William DeFranco (b. 2017)
son of American news reporter and YouTube personality Philip DeFranco
- Carter Hart
Canadian NHL goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers
Carter in pop culture
- Carter Hughes
character in 2018 film Benji
- Carter Heywood
main character on TV's "Spin City"
- Carter Kane
character in Rick Riordan's "The Kane Chronicles"
- Carter Pewterschmidt
character on TV's "Family Guy"
- Carter Tibbits
character on TV's "8 Simple Rules"
- Dr John Carter
character on TV's "ER"
- Carter Rutherford
character in the movie "Leatherheads"
- Carter Hall aka Hawkman
character in "Arrow," "The Flash," and "Legends of Tomorrow"
- Carter Bowen
character on TV's "Arrow"
- Carter Bowen
character on TV's "American Gothic"
- Carter Baizen
character on TV's "Gossip Girl"
- Carter J. Burke
character in "Alien" series
- Carter's
baby clothing brand
- Carter Boyd
character on Canadian sitcom "18 to Life"
- Carter
character on TV's "Robin Hood"
- Carter
character on TV's "The Walking Dead"
- Carter Grayson
Red Ranger on TV's "Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue"
- "John Carter
" book series and film
- Carter
character in Robert Cormier's "The Chocolate War"
- Carter
character introduced in Season 9 of The Original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series which ran from 1987,1996
- Carter Mason
main character in movie "Princess Protection Program"