Porter
Feminine · “doorkeeper”
Porter is given to both — 993 girls and 20,808 boys since 1880. See Porter as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Porter is a doorkeeper or a carrier — two different Latin words that English collapsed into one spelling.
How old is the name Porter?
Porter first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Porter is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Porter are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Porter most popular?
Porter peaked in 2022, reaching #2295 nationally. Today it ranks #2564, 269 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From porta to Porter
The story of Porter
A monastery porter kept the gate and a market porter carried loads, and English writes both the same way from two unrelated Latin words. The dark beer is named for the porters who drank it. Porter entered American given-name use for both sexes and is in current use.
Meaning
doorkeeper; carrier
Two Latin roots. Porta, 'gate', gives the porter who keeps a door. Portare, 'to carry', gives the porter who carries luggage. English uses one spelling for both and the surname may descend from either. Both Latin words are documented.
How the name formed
- porta
- porter
- Porter
Related forms: Portier · Portero
Pronouncing Porter
POR-tur
Two syllables, stress on the first. It is a homophone of the ordinary English noun.
Nicknames for Porter
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
- 1917
- Most girls named
- 202281 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2295reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- −8.1%68 in 2025, from 74
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.
Porter in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Portier in French — related form
- Portero in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, North Carolina.
Porters among us
people named Porter are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 23,636 born in 2025 was named Porter
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 Erikka test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Porter's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Erikka climbed just as high around 1988, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Erikka's path sketches the road Porter is walking now.
Porter 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
Where Porter is headed
Porter should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Porter beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Porter in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That two unrelated Latin words give one English spelling is a first-rate fact.
- That the beer is named for the men who drank it is a genuinely good detail.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- It is an ordinary English noun and reads as one.
- It reads as masculine and as a surname to many.
- The feminine use is very new.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Porter
Feminine · #2564 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Porters are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Porter are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Porter in 2025?
- Porter ranks #2564 among US girl names in 2025, with 68 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Porter?
- About 1 in every 23,636 US girls born in 2025 was named Porter — 68 in all.
- Will my child share the name Porter with classmates?
- Porter will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Porter
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sabina#2564 · Davie#2564 · Manuela#2564 · Xareni#2564 · Nyx#2564 · Jacklyn#2564 · Miliana#2564 · Darby#2564
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Porter? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Porter and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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