Explore the Family Name Cart
The meaning of Cart
1. Scottish and northern Irish: shortened form of McCart. 2. English (Leicestershire and Warwickshire): from Middle English cart, kert ‘cart’ (Old English cræt, Old Norse kartr), hence a metonymic occupational name for a carter or cartwright. 3. Altered form of German Karg. 4. Americanized form of French Canadian Charest 2 or Charette. Compare Carte 3. 5. In some cases probably also French: from Old Occitan cart, a variant of quart, a term which in the Middle Ages denoted a tax levied on wine; hence possibly a metonymic occupational name for a tax collector. 6. In some cases probably also French: from a short form of the personal name Ricart, an old variant of Richard. History: Some of the American Carts are descendants of Mathieu Chauré from France (see Charest).
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Cart in the United States?
According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname 'Cart' has seen a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, 'Cart' was ranked as the 22,304th most popular surname in the United States, this rank slipped down to 23,135th by 2010, reflecting a decline of 3.73%. However, the actual count of people with 'Cart' as their last name slightly increased from 1,078 in 2000 to 1,103 in 2010, marking a growth of 2.32%. The proportion per 100,000 people took a hit, falling by 7.5%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #22,304 | #23,135 | -3.73% |
| Count | 1,078 | 1,103 | 2.32% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.4 | 0.37 | -7.5% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Cart
In terms of ethnicity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows some interesting changes over the same period. While the representation of the surname 'Cart' in the White demographic remained fairly constant at around 94%, there were notable shifts in other ethnic categories. The percentage of people identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and of Two or More Races with the surname 'Cart' saw increases, albeit from a very low base. On the contrary, the Hispanic and Black demographics saw decreases in representation by 22.73% and 39.83% respectively. American Indian and Alaskan Native representation also appeared in the 2010 data, after being absent in the 2000 census.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 94.16% | 94.11% | -0.05% |
| Two or More Races | 0.93% | 1.63% | 75.27% |
| Black | 2.41% | 1.45% | -39.83% |
| Hispanic | 1.76% | 1.36% | -22.73% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0% | 0.91% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0.54% | 0% |