Carlena
A feminine name derived from the French form of Charles, meaning "manly".
Name Census estimates that about 1,101 living Americans carry the first name Carlena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carlena today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carlena births was 1975 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carlena. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Carlena with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 311,312 Americans
Peak year
1975
42 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,276
Tracked since 1910
Census
Carlena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,103 people with the first name Carlena, which placed it at #11,568 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
#11,568
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,103 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carlena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlena is White at 51.7%. The next largest groups are Black (28.7%) and Hispanic (11.1%). 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 Carlena 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 Carlena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.7% · 570
- Black or African American28.7% · 317
- Hispanic or Latino11.1% · 122
- Two or more races4.0% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.1% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 16
Popularity
Carlena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carlena from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 227 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carlena 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 Carlena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carlenas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Alabama, Ohio recorded the most babies named Carlena, while Ohio, Alabama, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carlena
The name Carlena is a feminine given name of uncertain origin, with various theories proposed about its roots and derivation. One widely accepted belief is that Carlena is a variant or feminine form of the Germanic name Carl or Charles, which means "free man" or "manly." This theory suggests that Carlena may have originated as a diminutive or pet form of these masculine names, potentially in regions where Germanic languages were spoken.
Another theory traces Carlena's origins to the Latin word "caritas," meaning "charity" or "love." It is possible that the name was derived from this root and used to convey a sense of affection or benevolence. However, this connection remains speculative, and there is limited historical evidence to support it conclusively.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Carlena date back to the late 19th century, although its usage was relatively rare at that time. One notable individual bearing this name was Carlena Layle (1907-1976), an American actress and singer who appeared in several films and stage productions during the 1930s and 1940s.
As the 20th century progressed, the name gained some popularity, particularly in certain regions of the United States. One notable bearer was Carlena Henrietta Brock (1921-2019), an American educator and civil rights activist who played a significant role in desegregating schools in Mississippi during the 1960s.
In the realm of literature, Carlena appears as a character in the novel "The Unvanquished" by William Faulkner, published in 1938. This fictional character was a young woman living in Mississippi during the American Civil War era.
Another notable individual with this name was Carlena Beard (1873-1942), an American educator and author who wrote several books on teaching methods and educational philosophy in the early 20th century.
While the name Carlena has not been among the most common or popular names throughout history, it has been borne by various individuals across different fields, including the arts, education, and activism. Despite its uncertain origins, the name has endured and continues to be used in various cultural contexts.
People
Carlena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carlena 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
Carlena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carlena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,101 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carlena 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 311,312 US residents.
Is Carlena a common name?
We classify Carlena as "Rare". It ranks above 90.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,418 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carlena most popular?
The single biggest year for Carlena was 1975, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carlena is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carlena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,103 people with the name Carlena, or 0.37 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,568 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 Carlena 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 Carlena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carlena appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,097 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Carlena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlena is White at 51.7%. The next largest groups are Black (28.7%) and Hispanic (11.1%). 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 Carlena most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carlena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.7% (570 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 Carlena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carlena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carlena in the SSA data are female. 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 Carlena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carlena 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 Carlena 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 are named Carlena?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.