How popular is the baby name Carter in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Carter.

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Popularity of the baby name Carter


Posts that mention the name Carter

Popular and unique baby names in Alberta (Canada), 2024

Flag of Alberta
Flag of Alberta

Last year, the Canadian province of Alberta welcomed more than 50,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Noah, for the sixth year in a row.

Here are Alberta’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 184 baby girls
  2. Charlotte, 164
  3. Amelia, 150
  4. Sophia, 146
  5. Emma, 145
  6. Ava, 120
  7. Harper, 115 (tie)
  8. Isla, 115 (tie)
  9. Hazel, 104 (tie)
  10. Sophie, 104 (tie)
  11. Ellie, 102 (3-way tie)
  12. Evelyn, 102 (3-way tie)
  13. Lily, 102 (3-way tie)
  14. Abigail, 98 (tie)
  15. Aurora, 98 (tie)
  16. Nora, 96
  17. Mia, 95
  18. Isabella, 90
  19. Ella, 88 (tie)
  20. Violet, 88 (tie)
  21. Elizabeth, 86
  22. Sofia, 85
  23. Chloe, 83 (tie)
  24. Scarlett, 83 (tie)
  25. Aria, 80 (tie)
  26. Emily, 80 (tie)
  27. Eleanor, 79
  28. Hannah, 76
  29. Hailey, 75 (tie)
  30. Ivy, 75 (tie)
  31. Mila, 73
  32. Grace, 72
  33. Luna, 70
  34. Maya, 69
  35. Georgia, 68 (tie)
  36. Maeve, 68 (tie)
  37. Lainey, 67
  38. Anna, 66 (tie)
  39. Eliana, 66 (tie)
  40. Emilia, 65
  41. Lucy, 64
  42. Audrey, 61 (tie)
  43. Naomi, 61 (tie)
  44. Avery, 58
  45. Rehmat, 56 (tie)
  46. Willow, 56 (tie)
  47. Adeline, 55 (tie)
  48. Zoey, 55 (tie)
  49. Sadie, 54 (tie)
  50. Stella, 54 (tie)
  51. Ayla, 53 (tie)
  52. Claire, 53 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah, 248 baby boys
  2. Oliver, 203
  3. Liam, 196
  4. Theodore, 187
  5. Henry, 160
  6. William, 148
  7. Ethan, 141 (tie)
  8. Leo, 141 (tie)
  9. Jack, 140
  10. Lucas, 139
  11. Levi, 138
  12. Benjamin, 133 (tie)
  13. James, 133 (tie)
  14. Adam, 126
  15. Wyatt, 119
  16. Daniel, 117
  17. Luca, 111
  18. Nathan, 108
  19. Hudson, 107 (tie)
  20. Owen, 107 (tie)
  21. Bennett, 105
  22. Elijah, 104
  23. Thomas, 103
  24. Logan, 102 (tie)
  25. Muhammad, 102 (tie)
  26. Luke, 96
  27. Beau, 95
  28. Maverick, 94
  29. Samuel, 88
  30. Arthur, 84
  31. Jacob, 83
  32. Asher, 81
  33. Cooper, 80 (tie)
  34. Jackson, 80 (tie)
  35. Caleb, 79 (3-way tie)
  36. Elias, 79 (3-way tie)
  37. Ezra, 79 (3-way tie)
  38. Gabriel, 78
  39. Alexander, 77
  40. David, 76
  41. Lincoln, 75
  42. Aiden, 74 (tie)
  43. Wesley, 74 (tie)
  44. Zorawar, 73
  45. Isaac, 71 (tie)
  46. Miles, 71 (tie)
  47. Theo, 70
  48. Carter, 68
  49. Grayson, 65 (5-way tie)
  50. John, 65 (5-way tie)
  51. Mason, 65 (5-way tie)
  52. Matthew, 65 (5-way tie)
  53. Ryan, 65 (5-way tie)

Lainey (ranked 37th) was one of Canada’s fastest-rising girl names, and Zorawar (ranked 44th) was one of Canada’s fastest-rising boy names.

What about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a selection of the baby names that were bestowed just once in Alberta last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Aapistsisskitsi, Brevity, Cleofe, Datura, Edrielle, Frishta, Guidance, Hivirikee, Ilunga, Jinanshi, Katawasisin, Luladay, Milto, Nocturna, Olithea, Persimmyn, Quindy, Rhodalyn, Sora, Tezlie, Urenna, Viridis, Waseskwan, Xaeia, Yarrow, ZanessraAalto, Behxhet, Cedar-Sage, Delaneaux, Entz, Fomo, Gloriliel, Haoqi, Invictus, Joonharu, Kamharida, Luigi, Miekkonen, Nîmihitow, Okimâw, Piyêsiw, Qyler, Ryunosuke, Shinichi, Tobit, Urvil, Valo, Woodland, Xevreau, Yipei, Zildjian

Some explanations for a few of the above:

  • Aapistsisskitsi means “flower blossom” in Blackfoot.
  • Invictus means “unconquered” in Latin.
  • Katawasisin means “it is beautiful” in Cree.
  • Meikkonen means “little man” in Finnish. (The word mies means “man.”)
  • Nîmihitow means “he/she dances” in Cree.
  • Okimâw means “chief, leader” in Cree.
  • Piyêsiw means “thunderbird” in Cree.
  • Viridis means “green, youthful” in Latin.
  • Waseskwan means “the sky is clear” in Cree.
  • Zildjian is a musical instrument maker specializing in cymbals.
    • The company was founded in the 1620s by Avedis, an Armenian metalsmith based in Constantinople. In 1623, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa I, granted Avedis the family name Zildjian, meaning “son of [the] cymbal maker.”

Finally, here’s a link to Alberta’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Alberta (public domain)

Popular baby names (and Maori baby names) in New Zealand, 2024

Flag of New Zealand
Flag of New Zealand

Last year, the island nation of New Zealand welcomed a total of 59,199 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Isla and Noah.

Here are New Zealand’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Isla, 190 baby girls
  2. Amelia, 183
  3. Charlotte, 173
  4. Lily, 158
  5. Isabella, 155
  6. Olivia, 154
  7. Hazel, 144
  8. Harper, 141
  9. Mia, 137
  10. Mila, 133
  11. Ava, 129 (tie)
  12. Ruby, 129 (tie)
  13. Sophie, 128
  14. Grace, 120
  15. Chloe, 114
  16. Ella, 113
  17. Aria, 112
  18. Willow, 107 (tie)
  19. Zoe, 107 (tie)
  20. Evelyn, 105 (tie)
  21. Millie, 105 (tie)
  22. Violet, 103
  23. Sophia, 102
  24. Daisy, 101
  25. Freya, 97
  26. Lucy, 96
  27. Ivy, 94
  28. Sienna, 92
  29. Emily, 91
  30. Amaia, 89 (tie)
  31. Matilda, 89 (tie)
  32. Olive, 88
  33. Margot, 87
  34. Kaia, 85 (tie)
  35. Maeve, 85 (tie)
  36. Ellie, 82
  37. Billie, 81 (tie)
  38. Layla, 81 (tie)
  39. Frankie, 80
  40. Stella, 79
  41. Georgia, 78 (tie)
  42. Sadie, 78 (tie)
  43. Maia, 77 (tie)
  44. Sofia, 77 (tie)
  45. Aurora, 74 (tie)
  46. Elsie, 74 (tie)
  47. Penelope, 72 (tie)
  48. Poppy, 72 (tie)
  49. Luna, 71
  50. Eden, 70 (3-way tie)
  51. Florence, 70 (3-way tie)
  52. Riley, 70 (3-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah, 250 baby boys
  2. Oliver, 228
  3. Leo, 202
  4. George, 198 (tie)
  5. Jack, 198 (tie)
  6. Luca, 192
  7. Theodore, 189
  8. Elijah, 159
  9. Theo, 158
  10. Arthur, 152
  11. Charlie, 149
  12. James, 141
  13. Lucas, 137
  14. Henry, 135
  15. Arlo, 132 (3-way tie)
  16. Hudson, 132 (3-way tie)
  17. William, 132 (3-way tie)
  18. Archie, 131
  19. Lachlan, 121
  20. Cooper, 116
  21. Ezra, 114 (tie)
  22. Finn, 114 (tie)
  23. Liam, 113 (tie)
  24. Thomas, 113 (tie)
  25. Ethan, 106 (4-way tie)
  26. Hugo, 106 (4-way tie)
  27. Levi, 106 (4-way tie)
  28. Oscar, 106 (4-way tie)
  29. Hunter, 105
  30. Max, 101
  31. Carter, 98 (tie)
  32. Louie, 98 (tie)
  33. Mason, 97
  34. Felix, 94
  35. Asher, 93
  36. Archer, 87 (3-way tie)
  37. Austin, 87 (3-way tie)
  38. Daniel, 87 (3-way tie)
  39. Beau, 85 (tie)
  40. Luke, 85 (tie)
  41. Benjamin, 84
  42. Alexander, 82
  43. Luka, 79 (tie)
  44. Roman, 79 (tie)
  45. Jasper, 78
  46. Elias, 77
  47. Riley, 76
  48. Joseph, 74
  49. Harvey, 72
  50. Louis, 71

The girls’ top 100 included Mackenzie (66th), Asees (80th), Arabella (89th), and Esther (92nd).

The boys’ top 100 included Zorawar (55th), Oakley (59th), Atlas (78th), and Bodhi (97th).

And what about Maori names specifically?

The top Maori baby names in New Zealand in 2024 — just like in 2023, and 2022 — were Aroha/Te Aroha for girls and Ariki/Te Ariki for boys.

Here are New Zealand’s top 10 Maori girl names and top 10 Maori boy names:

Maori girl names

  1. Aroha/Te Aroha, 173 baby girls
  2. Maia/Te Maia, 137
  3. Moana/Te Moana, 84
  4. Anahera/Te Anahera, 66
  5. Atarangi/Te Atarangi, 60
  6. Manaia, 58
  7. Rangimarie/Te Rangimarie, 54
  8. Rangi/Te Rangi, 49
  9. Marama/Te Marama, 48
  10. Tui, 45

Maori boy names

  1. Ariki/Te Ariki, 137 baby boys
  2. Wiremu, 100
  3. Koa, 76
  4. Mikaere, 74
  5. Rangi/Te Rangi, 70
  6. Nikau, 68
  7. Rawiri, 65
  8. Kiwa, 55
  9. Kahurangi/Te Kahurangi, 52
  10. Manaaki, 51

(Please note that I’ve simplified these lists a bit, because Maori names/words that contain macrons don’t render properly on my site.)

Interestingly, the Maori rankings don’t cover the calendar year 2024, like New Zealand’s national rankings do. Instead, they cover births from July 1, 2024, to June 18, 2025. These dates coincide with Matariki, a.k.a. Maori New Year.

Sources: Top Baby Names – New Zealand Government, Top baby names for 2024 – Beehive.govt.nz, Aroha/Te Aroha and Ariki/Te Ariki top Maori baby names of 2024/2025 – dia.govt.nz

Image: Adapted from Flag of New Zealand (public domain)

Popular baby names in Yukon (Canada), 2016-2020

Flag of Yukon
Flag of Yukon

From 2016 to 2020, the Canadian territory of Yukon (which shares a border with the U.S. state of Alaska) welcomed 2,023 babies.

The baby girls were given a total of 677 different names (522 of which were used only once), while the baby boys were given a total of 601 different names (418 of which were used only once).

What were the most popular names overall? Ava and Henry.

Here are Yukon’s top girl names and top boy names for the five-year period (2016-2020):

Girl names

  1. Ava, 13 baby girls
  2. Lily, 10
  3. Olivia, 9
  4. Charlotte and Isla, 8 each [tie]
  5. Eleanor, 7
  6. Alice, Amelia, Anna, Aurora, Emma, Evelyn, Freya, Grace, Hazel, and Sadie, 6 each [10-way tie]

Boy names

  1. Henry, 11 baby boys
  2. Carter, Jacob, Mason, and Thomas, 9 each [4-way tie]
  3. Liam, Owen, and Theodore, 8 [3-way tie]
  4. Benjamin, Charles, Hunter, Jack, James, Oliver, and Wyatt, 7 each [7-way tie]
  5. Alexander, Asher, Austin, Isaac, Jasper, Lucas, Noah, Rowan, and William, 6 each [9-way tie]

During the previous five-year period, from 2011 to 2015, the top names in Yukon were Ava and Liam.

P.S. According to the CBC, Yukon’s top names in 2019 specifically were Ava/Isla/Livia/Quinn (a four-way tie) and Henry.

Source: Baby Names in Yukon, 2016-2020 – Yukon Bureau of Statistics

Image: Adapted from Flag of Yukon (public domain)

Top names for baby boys, letter by letter, in 2024

First letters of baby boy names in 2024 (U.S.)

The most common first letter for baby boy names last year was J (used 10.7% of the time), followed by A (10.5%) and L (7.5%).

The least common first letter was Q (used 0.1% of the time), followed by U (0.2%) and X (0.4%).

So, what were the most popular boy names of 2024 within each letter group?

Top boy names starting with A:

  1. Asher
  2. Alexander
  3. Anthony
  4. Aiden
  5. Angel

Top boy names starting with B:

  1. Benjamin
  2. Bennett
  3. Brooks
  4. Beau
  5. Bryson

Top boy names starting with C:

  1. Carter
  2. Caleb
  3. Cooper
  4. Charles
  5. Christopher

Top boy names starting with D:

  1. Daniel
  2. Dylan
  3. David
  4. Dominic
  5. Damian

Top boy names starting with E:

  1. Elijah
  2. Ezra
  3. Ethan
  4. Elias
  5. Ezekiel

Top boy names starting with F:

  1. Felix
  2. Finn
  3. Finley
  4. Francisco
  5. Fernando

Top boy names starting with G:

  1. Gabriel
  2. Grayson
  3. Gael
  4. Giovanni
  5. George

Top boy names starting with H:

  1. Henry
  2. Hudson
  3. Harrison
  4. Hunter
  5. Hayden

Top boy names starting with I:

  1. Isaac
  2. Isaiah
  3. Ian
  4. Ivan
  5. Ismael

Top boy names starting with J:

  1. James
  2. Jack
  3. John
  4. Julian
  5. Joseph

Top boy names starting with K:

  1. Kai
  2. Kayden
  3. Kingston
  4. Kevin
  5. Kaiden

Top boy names starting with L:

  1. Liam
  2. Lucas
  3. Levi
  4. Luca
  5. Leo

Top boy names starting with M:

  1. Mateo
  2. Michael
  3. Matthew
  4. Maverick
  5. Miles

(Mason, which ranked third in 2023, dropped to sixth last year.)

Top boy names starting with N:

  1. Noah
  2. Nathan
  3. Nolan
  4. Nicholas
  5. Nathaniel

Top boy names starting with O:

  1. Oliver
  2. Owen
  3. Oscar
  4. Omar
  5. Otto

Top boy names starting with P:

  1. Parker
  2. Peter
  3. Patrick
  4. Paul
  5. Phoenix

Top boy names starting with Q:

  1. Quinn
  2. Quincy
  3. Quentin
  4. Quinton
  5. Quintin

Top boy names starting with R:

  1. Roman
  2. Rowan
  3. Ryan
  4. Robert
  5. River

Top boy names starting with S:

  1. Sebastian
  2. Samuel
  3. Santiago
  4. Silas
  5. Sawyer

Top boy names starting with T:

  1. Theodore
  2. Thomas
  3. Thiago
  4. Theo
  5. Tyler

Top boy names starting with U:

  1. Uriel
  2. Uriah
  3. Ulises
  4. Umar
  5. Ulysses

Top boy names starting with V:

  1. Vincent
  2. Victor
  3. Valentino
  4. Vicente
  5. Vincenzo

Top boy names starting with W:

  1. William
  2. Wyatt
  3. Wesley
  4. Waylon
  5. Weston

Top boy names starting with X:

  1. Xavier
  2. Xander
  3. Xzavier
  4. Xavi
  5. Xyleek

(Xyleek debuted impressively in the data last year.)

Top boy names starting with Y:

  1. Yusuf
  2. Yosef
  3. Yahya
  4. Yehuda
  5. Yahir

Top boy names starting with Z:

  1. Zion
  2. Zachary
  3. Zayden
  4. Zayn
  5. Zyaire

Source: SSA