Carston
Derived from Scandinavian elements meaning "fortress town".
Name Census estimates that about 630 living Americans carry the first name Carston. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Carston today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carston births was 2009 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carston. 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.
People living today
630
~ 1 in 544,055 Americans
Peak year
2009
40 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,098
Tracked since 1921
Census
Carston in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 657 people with the first name Carston, which placed it at #16,975 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
#16,975
National first-name rank
People counted
657
657 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carston
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carston is White at 79.1%. The next largest groups are Black (9.0%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Carston 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 Carston at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.1% · 520
- Black or African American9.0% · 59
- Two or more races5.8% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 6
Popularity
Carston: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carston from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 272 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carston 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 Carston during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carstons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Carston
The given name Carston is derived from the Old English words "caer" meaning a fortified place or town, and "tun" meaning an enclosure or settlement. This suggests that the name likely originated among the Anglo-Saxon communities in Britain during the medieval period, possibly referring to someone who lived near or was associated with a fortified town or settlement.
The earliest recorded use of the name Carston can be traced back to the 12th century, appearing in various medieval records and manuscripts from England. One notable early bearer of the name was Carston of Northampton, a landowner and knight who lived during the reign of King Henry II in the late 12th century.
In the 13th century, a Carston de Wycliffe was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire, indicating that the name had spread to different regions of England. During the same period, a Carston of Canterbury was recorded as a monk and scholar at the renowned Canterbury Cathedral.
Moving into the 14th century, a Carston de Bury was a notable merchant and alderman in the city of London, playing a significant role in the city's trade and governance. In the 15th century, a Carston Fitzwilliam was a renowned English military commander who served under King Henry V during the latter stages of the Hundred Years' War.
Fast-forwarding to the 16th century, Carston Blount was an English nobleman and courtier who served as a member of the Privy Council under Queen Elizabeth I. He was known for his influential role in the English Renaissance and as a patron of the arts and literature.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who bore the name Carston throughout history, demonstrating its enduring presence and significance, particularly within the English-speaking world. While the name may have evolved in spelling and usage over the centuries, its roots can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon origins and the fortified settlements that once dotted the landscape of medieval Britain.
People
Carston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carston as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Carston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 630 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carston 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 544,055 US residents.
Is Carston a common name?
We classify Carston as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 642 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carston most popular?
The single biggest year for Carston was 2009, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carston is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carston in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 657 people with the name Carston, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,975 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 Carston 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 Carston?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carston leans strongly male. 633 people counted with this name were male (97.1%), compared with 19 female bearers (2.9%). 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 Carston?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carston is White at 79.1%. The next largest groups are Black (9.0%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Carston most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carston in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.1% (520 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 Carston in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carston a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carston 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 Carston still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carston 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 Carston 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 Americans are named Carston?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.