Carletta
Feminine diminutive form of the masculine name Carl, of Germanic origin meaning "free man".
Name Census estimates that about 2,211 living Americans carry the first name Carletta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carletta today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carletta births was 1970 (98 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carletta. 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.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 155,022 Americans
Peak year
1970
98 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2022 SSA rank
#15,754
Tracked since 1914
Census
Carletta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,164 people with the first name Carletta, which placed it at #7,130 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
#7,130
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,164 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
57.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carletta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carletta is Black at 57.4%. The next largest groups are White (33.1%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (4.2%). 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 Carletta 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 Carletta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American57.4% · 1,242
- White33.1% · 716
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.2% · 90
- Two or more races3.4% · 74
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.0% · 1
Popularity
Carletta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carletta from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 625 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carletta 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 Carletta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carlettas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Ohio, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Carletta, while Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carletta
Carletta is a feminine given name that originated in Italy and Spain during the Middle Ages. It is a diminutive form of the Italian name Carla, which is derived from the Germanic name Karl, meaning "free man" or "unfettered." The suffix "-etta" is a common Italian diminutive, used to express endearment or familiarity.
The earliest known recorded use of the name Carletta dates back to the 12th century, where it appeared in Italian and Spanish historical records. It was particularly popular among the nobility and upper classes during this time period.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Carletta di Montefalco, an Italian Roman Catholic nun and mystic, lived from 1268 to 1308. She is remembered for her spiritual visions and was later canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church.
Another historical figure bearing the name Carletta was Carletta Pico della Mirandola, an Italian noblewoman and poet who lived from 1470 to 1520. She was a member of the influential Pico della Mirandola family and was known for her literary works and patronage of the arts.
In the 16th century, Carletta Guicciardini was an Italian noblewoman and writer who lived from 1520 to 1589. She was the author of several popular works, including a collection of letters and a biography of her husband, the historian Francesco Guicciardini.
During the 17th century, Carletta Grillo was an Italian painter and engraver who lived from 1619 to 1670. She was renowned for her portraiture and religious works, and her pieces can be found in various museums and galleries throughout Italy.
In the late 19th century, Carletta Monterey was an American writer and social activist who lived from 1859 to 1923. She was a prominent figure in the women's suffrage movement and authored several books and articles advocating for women's rights.
While Carletta is not a commonly used name today, it remains a unique and historic name with roots in Italian and Spanish culture, reflecting a rich heritage and tradition.
People
Carletta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carletta 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
Carletta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carletta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,211 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carletta 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 155,022 US residents.
Is Carletta a common name?
We classify Carletta as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,060 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carletta most popular?
The single biggest year for Carletta was 1970, when 98 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carletta is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carletta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,164 people with the name Carletta, or 0.72 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,130 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 Carletta 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 Carletta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carletta appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,167 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 Carletta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carletta is Black at 57.4%. The next largest groups are White (33.1%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (4.2%). 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 Carletta most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Carletta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.4% (1,242 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 Carletta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carletta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carletta 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 Carletta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carletta 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 Carletta 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 Carletta?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.