By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal
footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.
Where Carter is most popular
Boys named Carter per 1,000 boys born in
each state, 2021–2025. National average: 3.68 per 1,000.
Strongest in Wyoming, Maine, and New Hampshire.
Vs national average well below below near national above well above no data
All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Carter born
2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes
comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.
| State | Boys 2021–2025 | Per 1,000 | vs national |
| Wyoming | 57 | 9.85 | +168% |
| Maine | 177 | 9.12 | +148% |
| New Hampshire | 200 | 9.01 | +145% |
| Delaware | 132 | 8.71 | +137% |
| Vermont | 54 | 8.60 | +134% |
| West Virginia | 257 | 7.87 | +114% |
| Alaska | 79 | 6.63 | +80% |
| Kentucky | 661 | 6.59 | +79% |
| Rhode Island | 106 | 6.50 | +77% |
| Montana | 114 | 6.46 | +76% |
| Idaho | 257 | 6.28 | +71% |
| Alabama | 665 | 6.08 | +65% |
| North Dakota | 101 | 5.92 | +61% |
| Pennsylvania | 1,542 | 5.81 | +58% |
| South Dakota | 107 | 5.75 | +56% |
| Ohio | 1,509 | 5.69 | +55% |
| Missouri | 787 | 5.68 | +54% |
| South Carolina | 585 | 5.66 | +54% |
| Mississippi | 320 | 5.63 | +53% |
| Connecticut | 381 | 5.63 | +53% |
| Oklahoma | 495 | 5.60 | +52% |
| Michigan | 1,134 | 5.54 | +51% |
| Arkansas | 349 | 5.51 | +50% |
| Louisiana | 562 | 5.49 | +49% |
| Kansas | 376 | 5.48 | +49% |
| Tennessee | 946 | 5.24 | +43% |
| Indiana | 833 | 5.19 | +41% |
| Iowa | 355 | 5.15 | +40% |
| North Carolina | 1,310 | 5.13 | +40% |
| Nebraska | 220 | 5.06 | +38% |
| Wisconsin | 578 | 4.88 | +33% |
| Virginia | 910 | 4.80 | +30% |
| Georgia | 1,168 | 4.61 | +25% |
| District of Columbia | 68 | 4.61 | +25% |
| Oregon | 348 | 4.58 | +25% |
| Maryland | 545 | 4.57 | +24% |
| Colorado | 561 | 4.35 | +18% |
| Hawaii | 65 | 4.19 | +14% |
| Utah | 388 | 4.06 | +11% |
| Minnesota | 495 | 4.04 | +10% |
| Florida | 1,896 | 4.00 | +9% |
| Illinois | 987 | 3.86 | +5% |
| Massachusetts | 527 | 3.83 | ≈ national |
| New Jersey | 748 | 3.72 | ≈ national |
| Washington | 606 | 3.70 | ≈ national |
| Arizona | 599 | 3.66 | ≈ national |
| New York | 1,565 | 3.61 | ≈ national |
| New Mexico | 119 | 3.61 | ≈ national |
| Nevada | 202 | 3.54 | ≈ national |
| Texas | 2,609 | 2.96 | -19% |
| California | 2,102 | 2.30 | -37% |
State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any
state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.
The story of Carter
Carter is a top-50 name for boys in the United States, ranked #45 in 2025 with 6,024 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.
Since 1881, 216,871 American babies have been named Carter. Its peak came in 2015, when 11,395 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2010s.
The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Carter stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.
