Baxter
One meaning of the English name Baxter is "baker".
Name Census estimates that about 2,485 living Americans carry the first name Baxter. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Baxter today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Baxter births was 2014 (74 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Baxter. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Baxter with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 137,929 Americans
Peak year
2014
74 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,042
Tracked since 1880
Census
Baxter in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,366 people with the first name Baxter, which placed it at #6,696 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,696
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,366 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Baxter
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Baxter is White at 80.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.5%) and Hispanic (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Baxter described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Baxter at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.0% · 1,893
- Black or African American9.5% · 224
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 97
- Two or more races4.1% · 97
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 24
Popularity
Baxter: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Baxter from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 610 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Baxter by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Baxter during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Baxters live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. North Carolina, California, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Baxter, while West Virginia, Washington, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Baxter
The name Baxter has its origins in the Old English language, tracing back to the Anglo-Saxon era in Britain. It is derived from the word "baxter," which means "baker" or "baker of bread." The name likely originated as an occupational surname for those who worked as bakers or owned bakeries.
During the Middle Ages, the name Baxter was prevalent in England, particularly in regions with a strong Anglo-Saxon influence. It was not uncommon for individuals to adopt occupational surnames as a means of identifying themselves and their trades.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Baxter can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears in various spellings, such as "Bakestere" and "Baksterre."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Baxter. One of the most famous was Richard Baxter (1615-1691), an English Puritan church leader and influential writer during the English Civil War period. His works, such as "The Reformed Pastor" and "The Saints' Everlasting Rest," had a significant impact on Protestant theology and Christian literature.
Another notable Baxter was Reverend Richard Baxter (1738-1816), an English philosopher and writer who authored several works on moral philosophy and theology. He is best known for his book "An Essay on the Human Mind," which explored the nature of the human mind and its relationship to the body.
In the realm of literature, James Phinney Baxter (1831-1921) was an American writer and historian from Maine. He is renowned for his historical works, including "The British Invasion from the North" and "The Pioneers of New France in New England."
George Baxter (1804-1867) was an English printer and inventor who revolutionized the printing industry with his patented method of color printing, known as the "Baxter Process." His vibrant and detailed prints were highly sought after in the 19th century.
Finally, Walter Baxter (1915-1987) was an Australian painter and printmaker known for his landscapes and depictions of rural life. His works are celebrated for their vivid colors and atmospheric qualities, capturing the essence of the Australian outback.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Baxter throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of the name's legacy.
People
Baxter + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Baxter as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Baxter: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Baxter?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,485 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Baxter going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 137,929 US residents.
Is Baxter a common name?
We classify Baxter as "Rare". It ranks above 94.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,996 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Baxter most popular?
The single biggest year for Baxter was 2014, when 74 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Baxter is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Baxter in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,366 people with the name Baxter, or 0.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,696 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Baxter in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Baxter?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Baxter leans strongly male. 2,311 people counted with this name were male (97.7%), compared with 54 female bearers (2.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Baxter?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Baxter is White at 80.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.5%) and Hispanic (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Baxter most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Baxter in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.0% (1,893 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Baxter in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Baxter a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Baxter in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Baxter still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Baxter in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Baxter can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Baxter?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.