Carrick
Masculine · “Irish carraig”
Carrickfergus means the rock of Fergus, and the rock is still there under the castle. Carraig is one of the most productive words in Irish and Scottish place names, and it names exactly what it says.
How old is the name Carrick?
Carrick first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Carrick alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 600 people named Carrick are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Carrick most popular?
Carrick peaked in 2014, reaching #3154 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 7,541 places below that high. See the whole 2014 chart.
Where it comes from
From carraig to Carrick
The story of Carrick
Carrickfergus in County Antrim is named for a rock associated with Fergus, a legendary king said to have drowned nearby, and the Norman castle built on it in the 1170s still stands. Carrick is also a district of Ayrshire, part of the earldom the Bruces held, and it appears across the map wherever there is stone worth naming. The word is one of a working vocabulary of Gaelic landscape terms that English has borrowed piecemeal: crag, cairn, glen, loch, strath and ben all come from the same source. As a given name Carrick is recent in America, part of the wave that has taken Irish and Scottish surnames as first names, and its peak in the 2010s puts it in the newest layer of that wave.
Meaning
Irish carraig, a rock
From Irish and Scottish Gaelic carraig, a rock or crag, found in place names across both countries and used as a surname from residence. The peak of the given name is 2014.
How the name formed
- carraig
- Carrick
Related forms: Carraig · Carraig
Pronouncing Carrick
KAIR-ik
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Gaelic carraig has the stress on the first syllable too.
Nicknames for Carrick
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1970
- Most boys named
- 201435 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3154reached in 2014
- Change vs 2024
- −14.3%6 in 2025, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Carrick in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Carraig in Irish — same name
- Carraig in Scottish Gaelic — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Ohio.
Carricks among us
people named Carrick are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Carrick
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Vahan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Carrick's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Vahan climbed just as high around 1925, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Vahan's path sketches the road Carrick is walking now.
Carrick sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Carrick beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Carrick in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Rick and Carr are two short forms in different styles.
- The Gaelic meaning is concrete and documented.
- Two syllables with a firm opening.
- It will be heard as Garrick or Carrig.
- It reads as a surname to most Americans.
- The 2014 peak dates it to the last decade.
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Carrick
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Carricks are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Carrick are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Carrick in 2025?
- Carrick ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Carrick?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Carrick — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Carrick with classmates?
- Carrick will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Carrick
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
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Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Carrick? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Carrick and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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