Colter
Torn between Colter and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
occupational surname meaning 'colt herder'
The story
Colter is the colt herder, the man who kept the young horses, which makes it the occupational answer to Colt itself, nine batches back: the animal and its keeper, reunited on one worklist. The record idled at a serious flat line for decades, about 1,000 to 1,500 a decade from the 1990s through the 2010s, and then the western wave hit it harder than any name in the file: already 6,400 so far this decade, more than four times the full 2010s, the sharpest cowboycore surge after Stetson's. One figure is absolute, and rare even in this register: across the entire record, not one girl, 10,700 boys to zero. John Colter walked away from Lewis and Clark's expedition and into mountain-man legend, which gives the name a frontiersman for families who want one. The herd is growing; the record says the keeper's name is too.
How popular is Colter around the world?
In the United States, 6,417 babies were named Colter between 2020 and 2025. In Canada, 141 boys named Colter were born in 2024, the 235th most common name among boys that year.
Colter is on the official records of the United States, Canada and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 3,400
In the United States, 6,417 babies were named Colter between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Colter peaked in the 2020s. Colter went to 142 US babies in 2015 and 2,354 in 2025, 16.6 times as many.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 2,600
In Canada, 141 boys named Colter were born in 2024, the 235th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 33,000
In England and Wales, 18 boys named Colter were born in 2025, ranked 1,466th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
last on record 2024
Colter is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Colter
Most people given the name Colter 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.
Keep exploring
The Colter deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Colter 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 Colter fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Colter fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Colter to your family’s tree →