How common is the surname Carter?

376,966 people in the United States had the surname Carter in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 819 Americans. It ranked 49th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Carter?

Howard Carter, British egyptologist (1874–1939), followed by Dixie Carter.

The surnameCarter

An Irish occupational surname, the 49th most common in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈkɑɹɾɚ/ 2 syllables Soundex C636 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Carter is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

As an English name, from the occupation carter. As an Irish name, from Irish Mac Artúir (literally “son of Arthur”).

Carter is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 376,966 people named Carter in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 819 Americans. That is up 4.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 362,548.

#49

rank among US surnames

376,966

people in 2010

128

per 100,000 Americans

+4%

change since 2000 (was #46)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#40	Flores	433,969	711
#41	Green	430,182	718
#42	Adams	427,865	722
#43	Nelson	424,958	727
#44	Baker	419,586	736
#45	Hall	407,076	758
#46	Rivera	391,114	789

Who is named Carter

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

58% of people named Carter identified as white (not Hispanic), 36% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 58%
Black (not Hispanic) 36%
Two or more races 2.6%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Carters

120 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Howard Carter
British egyptologist (1874–1939)
Dixie Carter
American actress (1939–2010)
June Carter Cash
American singer (1929–2003)
Nick Carter
American singer (born 1980)
Vince Carter
American basketball player (born 1977)
Ash Carter
25th United States Secretary of Defense, 1954–2022
Lynda Carter
American actress, singer, and beauty pageant titleholder, born 1951
Aaron Carter
American pop singer, actor and songwriter (1987–2022)
Benny Carter
American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader (190
Chris Carter
American television and film producer (born 1956)
Rubin Carter
American boxer (1937–2014)
Michelle Carter
American shot putter, born 1985

Notable Carters come mostly from the United States (108), Australia (7) and the United Kingdom (3).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Carter

Carter has the Soundex code C636, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C636.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Carter come from?: As an English name, from the occupation carter. As an Irish name, from Irish Mac Artúir (literally “son of Arthur”).
How common is the surname Carter?: 376,966 people in the United States had the surname Carter in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 819 Americans. It ranked 49th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Carter?: In the 2010 Census, 58% of people named Carter identified as white (not Hispanic), and 36% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Carter?: Howard Carter, British egyptologist (1874–1939), followed by Dixie Carter.