Porter

English from French occupational name
"doorkeeper or carrier"

Porter Origin and Meaning

The name Porter is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "doorkeeper or carrier".

It may surprise you to know that surname name Porter was fairly popular in the US in the 19th and early 20th centuries, then went underground for 40 years only to reemerge at the turn of this century and climb the ladder again.

Now, it's wobbling around the middle of the Top 1000 list for boys, not a bad place to be. Theoretically unisex, Porter is used seven times as often for boys as for girls.

# 503 in the US

Porter Rank in US Top 1000

# 664 on Nameberry

Porter Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Porter Popularity

Famous People Named Porter

  • Porter Wayne Wagoner
    American country music singer
  • (Clifford) Porter Hall
    American actor
  • Porter James McCumber
    U.S. Senator from North Dakota
  • Porter Johnston Goss
    U.S. Congressman and CIA director
  • Porter Hinman Dale
    U.S. Congressman from Vermont
  • Porter Ward Lainhart
    American NFL football player
  • (Orrin) Porter Rockwell
    American Mormon lawman and folk hero
  • Porter Weston Robinson
    American electronic music producer
  • Porter Rabach
    son of NFL player Casey Rabach
  • Porter Deru
    son of vlogger Julie Deru
  • Denaun Porter aka Mr. Porter and Kon Artis
    American rapper
  • Cole Porter
    American composer and songwriter

Porter in Pop Culture

  • Porter
    YouTuber Kathleen Light's dog
  • "Hey Porter
    " song by Johnny Cash
  • MrPorter.com
    luxury menswear website
  • Porter Ranch
    Los Angeles, California
  • Porter Scavo
    character on TV's "Desperate Housewives"
  • Porter Ricks
    dad in the film and TV series "Flipper"
  • Porter
    main character in film "Payback"
  • Porter Black
    character in 2011 film "The Beaver"
  • Porter Geiss
    son of a poltergeist in "Monster High" series
  • Porter Gage
    character in video game "Fallout 4"
  • Porter
    little boy on a fictional soap opera in an episode of "Seinfeld"