Boys' name · peaked in 1937
Carlton name popularity since 1925
43,164 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Carlton (0.6% girls, 99.4% boys). Half of them were born in 1960 or earlier, so the typical Carlton is about 66 years old in 2026. Carlton peaked in 1937 as the #217 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 43,164
- Named Carlton, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,893 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.4% boys
- 261 girls · 42,903 boys
- Most popular in
- District of Columbia
- 4.61× its national share
Peak year is the year Carlton made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Carlton births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1957. Measured as a share of all babies, Carlton peaked in 1937.
- Steepest fall: Between 1999 and 2004, Carlton's share of baby boys fell by 41%, from 1 in 8,570 to 1 in 14,500.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Carlton's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Carlton.
Decade by decade
Babies named Carlton in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 16 | 2,467 | – |
| 1930s | 17 | 5,021 | #239 |
| 1940s | 32 | 5,361 | #262 |
| 1950s | 47 | 7,920 | #238 |
| 1960s | 59 | 6,985 | #296 |
| 1970s | 26 | 4,833 | #346 |
| 1980s | 34 | 3,993 | #438 |
| 1990s | 30 | 3,538 | #566 |
| 2000s | 0 | 1,610 | #969 |
| 2010s | 0 | 885 | #1,617 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 290 | #2,893 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
33.1% of babies named Carlton from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Carlton is most popular
The index compares Carlton's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Carlton.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 4.61× | 843 |
| Virginia | 3.51× | 3,142 |
| Georgia | 3.25× | 3,569 |
| North Carolina | 3.03× | 3,414 |
| Maine | 2.26× | 383 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Carlton and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Carlton (this page) | 42,903 | 1937 |
| Karlton | 1,490 | 1991 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Carlton's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Carlton.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Carlton (1937).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data