# Cartwright (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/cartwright/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English surname originating as an occupation for someone who made carts.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 22,156 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,626 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,935 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.3% (21,654 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɑɹt.ɹaɪt/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Catrett |

## Etymology

English surname, from the nouns cart + wright (“maker, crafter”). As a Dutch surname, variant of Courtwright. The settlement in Labrador was named by British military officer, entrepreneur and author George Cartwright (1739/1740 – 1819), who established a fish and fur trading business at the location of the settlement.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Cartwright in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 77% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 17% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Cartwright in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada.

## People named Cartwright

- Nancy Cartwright, American actress
- Veronica Cartwright, British actress
- Nancy Cartwright, American philosopher
- Angela Cartwright, British actress
- Bill Cartwright, American basketball player and coach
- Jack Cartwright, Australian swimmer
- Lynn Cartwright, actress (1927-2004)
- Samuel A. Cartwright, American physician (1793–1863)
- John Robert Cartwright, 12th Chief Justice of Canada (1895–1979)
- Hilton Cartwright, Australian cricketer
- Kelly Cartwright, Australian female athletics Paralympian

## Similar surnames

Courtright, Cortright, Carter, Cartier, Cordero, Crowder, Crider, Corder, Carruthers, Carothers, Carder, Chartier.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.