Carter

English occupational name

"transporter of goods by cart"

Carter Origin and Meaning

The name Carter is a boy's name of English origin meaning "transporter of goods by cart".

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.

Carter Rank in US Top 1000

# 48 in the US

Carter Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 236 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Carter

• 48 US 2023
• 236 Nameberry 2025
• 78 Canada 2023
• 11 Future 2028
• 86 England 2023
• 72 Scotland 2024
• 64 Australia 2024
• 31 New Zealand 2024

20 Names Similar to Carter

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Carter.

• Landon
• Mason
• Grayson
• Cole
• Riley
• Carson
• Cameron
• Blake
• Greyson
• Hayden
• Logan
• Colton
• Bryce
• Brody
• Cooper
• Ashton
• Jackson
• Parker
• Connor
• Myles

Famous People Named Carter

• 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

The name 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