Carson
Meaning
“Scottish surname of uncertain meaning”
The story
Carson began as a Scottish surname whose meaning remains uncertain. America knows its bearers well: the frontiersman Kit Carson, the novelist Carson McCullers, the late-night institution Johnny Carson. As a first name it idled at the low edge of the US records for a full century, began stirring in the 1970s, and took off through the 1990s and 2000s, right as surname names became the reigning American fashion and a young Carson Daly was on television every afternoon; the timing invites a guess, though nobody can prove it. The peak came in the 2010s, and the name has given back only a little since. It wears well in both directions, literary if you lean one way and outdoorsy the other, and it is comfortable anywhere between.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Carson peaked in the 2010s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
108 people · the #39,099 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 36
Among people named Carson living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Carson
Most people given the name Carson in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Carson deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Carson truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Carson fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Names like Carson · Middle names for Carson · Pen names and the names writers chose
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