Kolter
Anglicized form of a Germanic surname meaning "charcoal maker".
Name Census estimates that about 1,447 living Americans carry the first name Kolter. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kolter today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kolter births was 2024 (296 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kolter. 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.
Key insights
- • Kolter is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 236,872 Americans
Peak year
2024
296 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#834
Tracked since 1987
Census
Kolter in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 662 people with the first name Kolter, which placed it at #16,878 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
#16,878
National first-name rank
People counted
662
662 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kolter
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kolter is White at 88.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Kolter 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 Kolter at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.1% · 583
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 27
- Two or more races3.6% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 20
- Black or African American0.6% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 4
Popularity
Kolter: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kolter from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 778 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kolter 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 Kolter during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kolters live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. Texas, Utah, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Kolter, while North Dakota, California, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kolter
The given name Kolter has its origins rooted in the Dutch language, tracing back to the Middle Ages. Derived from the Old Dutch term "kolt," meaning "a young bullock or calf," the name was initially used as a surname in the Netherlands and surrounding regions.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, the name Kolter gained prominence as a given name among Dutch-speaking communities. Its association with cattle and farming likely reflected the agrarian lifestyle prevalent during that era. The earliest recorded instances of Kolter as a first name can be found in historical records and parish registries from the Netherlands and parts of modern-day Belgium.
One of the earliest known individuals bearing the name Kolter was Kolter van Amstel, a Dutch merchant and landowner who lived in the late 13th century. His name appears in various trade documents and land deeds from that period, indicating the name's usage among the Dutch mercantile class.
In the 15th century, Kolter Bruijn, a renowned Dutch painter and illuminator, gained recognition for his intricate illuminated manuscripts commissioned by nobility and religious institutions. His artistic contributions to the Dutch Renaissance marked a significant moment for the name Kolter in the annals of art history.
As the Dutch established colonies and trading outposts around the world, the name Kolter traveled with them. In the 17th century, Kolter van Riebeeck, a Dutch colonial administrator, played a pivotal role in establishing the Dutch Cape Colony in present-day South Africa. His name appears in numerous historical accounts and records from that era, showcasing the name's global reach.
Another notable figure was Kolter van Dyck, a 17th-century Dutch navigator and explorer who embarked on several voyages to the East Indies and the Americas. His name is etched in the chronicles of Dutch maritime exploration and trade during the Golden Age of the Netherlands.
Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, Kolter Jacobsen, a Norwegian-born whaler and explorer, gained fame for his daring expeditions to the Arctic regions. His name lives on in geographical features and historical accounts of the era, reflecting the name's enduring presence across various cultures and disciplines.
People
Kolter + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kolter as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kolter: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kolter?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,447 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kolter 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 236,872 US residents.
Is Kolter a common name?
We classify Kolter as "Rare". It ranks above 92.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,460 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kolter most popular?
The single biggest year for Kolter was 2024, when 296 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kolter is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kolter in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 662 people with the name Kolter, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,878 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 Kolter 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 Kolter?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kolter leans strongly male. 644 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 8 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Kolter?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kolter is White at 88.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Kolter most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kolter in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.1% (583 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 Kolter in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kolter a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kolter 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 Kolter still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kolter 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 Kolter 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 have the name Kolter?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Kolter on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.