Carlinda
Woman's name combining Carl, a man's name meaning "free man," with Linda, meaning "pretty, soft."
Name Census estimates that about 72 living Americans carry the first name Carlinda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carlinda today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carlinda births was 1968 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carlinda. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Carlinda. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
72
~ 1 in 4,760,477 Americans
Peak year
1968
8 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
1989 SSA rank
#12,674
Tracked since 1948
Census
Carlinda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 170 people with the first name Carlinda, which placed it at #42,346 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
#42,346
National first-name rank
People counted
170
170 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
42.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carlinda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlinda is White at 42.4%. The next largest groups are Black (30.6%) and Hispanic (11.2%). 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 Carlinda 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 Carlinda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White42.4% · 72
- Black or African American30.6% · 52
- Hispanic or Latino11.2% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.9% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.3% · 9
- Two or more races4.7% · 8
Popularity
Carlinda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carlinda from the 1940s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 25 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Carlinda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carlinda 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 Carlinda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carlinda
The name Carlinda is believed to have its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically from the combination of the Germanic elements "karl" meaning "man" or "freeman" and "lind" meaning "tender" or "soft." This name likely emerged during the medieval period in regions where Germanic tribes and cultures had a strong presence, such as parts of modern-day Germany and surrounding areas.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Carlinda can be traced back to the 11th century, where it was mentioned in several monastic records from the Holy Roman Empire. It is possible that the name was initially used by members of the nobility or upper classes during this time, as names with Germanic roots were often favored among the ruling elite.
In the 12th century, a renowned scholar and abbess named Carlinda of Bingen (1098-1179) gained recognition for her works in music, literature, and natural philosophy. Her writings and compositions contributed significantly to the intellectual and cultural landscape of the High Middle Ages, solidifying the name's place in historical records.
During the Renaissance period, the name Carlinda experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly in Italy and other parts of Southern Europe. One notable figure from this era was the Italian painter and architect Carlinda Fiorentino (1494-1557), whose works adorned several churches and palaces in Florence and Rome.
In the 17th century, Carlinda von Ottingen (1612-1678), a German noblewoman and patron of the arts, played a crucial role in supporting and promoting the works of various artists and composers during her lifetime. Her patronage helped shape the cultural landscape of the Baroque period in Central Europe.
As the name Carlinda spread across different regions and cultures, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Carlinde, Karlinda, and Karlinde. These variations often reflected the linguistic and cultural influences of the area where the name was adopted.
While the name Carlinda may not have been as widely used as some other names throughout history, it has maintained a presence in various cultures and regions, carrying with it a sense of strength and tenderness derived from its Germanic roots.
People
Carlinda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carlinda 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
Carlinda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carlinda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 72 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carlinda 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 4,760,477 US residents.
Is Carlinda a common name?
We classify Carlinda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 89 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carlinda most popular?
The single biggest year for Carlinda was 1968, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carlinda is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carlinda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 170 people with the name Carlinda, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,346 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 Carlinda 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 Carlinda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carlinda appears almost entirely female. Of the 163 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 Carlinda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlinda is White at 42.4%. The next largest groups are Black (30.6%) and Hispanic (11.2%). 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 Carlinda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carlinda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.4% (72 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 Carlinda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carlinda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carlinda 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 Carlinda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carlinda 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 Carlinda 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 share the name Carlinda?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.