Carlitos
A Spanish diminutive masculine name derived from Carlos, meaning "free man".
Name Census estimates that about 559 living Americans carry the first name Carlitos. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Carlitos today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carlitos births was 2006 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carlitos. 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
559
~ 1 in 613,156 Americans
Peak year
2006
31 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,403
Tracked since 1964
Census
Carlitos in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 589 people with the first name Carlitos, which placed it at #18,321 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
#18,321
National first-name rank
People counted
589
589 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
85.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carlitos
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlitos is Hispanic at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Black (5.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.6%). 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 Carlitos 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 Carlitos at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino85.1% · 501
- Black or African American5.1% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 27
- White3.2% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 6
- Two or more races1.0% · 6
Popularity
Carlitos: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carlitos from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 198 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carlitos 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 Carlitos during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carlitos' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Colorado, Texas recorded the most babies named Carlitos, while Texas, Colorado, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carlitos
The name Carlitos is a Spanish diminutive form of the name Carlos, which has its origins in the Germanic name Karl or Charles. The etymology of Karl can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic word "karlaz," meaning "free man." This name gained popularity in the Medieval era, particularly after the reign of Charlemagne, the King of the Franks and the first Holy Roman Emperor.
The name Carlitos itself has been in use since the Middle Ages in Spanish-speaking regions, such as Spain and Latin America. It was a common name among the Spanish nobility and was also adopted by commoners as a way to honor notable historical figures bearing the name Carlos.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Carlitos can be found in the 13th-century epic poem "El Cantar de Mio Cid," which tells the story of the legendary Castilian hero El Cid Campeador. In this work, the name Carlitos is mentioned as a diminutive form used by the hero's family and friends.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Carlitos. One example is Carlitos Tevez (born 1984), an Argentine professional football player who has played for various clubs, including Manchester United and Juventus. Another famous Carlitos is Carlitos Balá (born 1957), a Cuban-American percussionist and musician known for his contributions to Latin jazz and salsa music.
In the realm of literature, Carlitos is the name of a character in the novel "El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba" (No One Writes to the Colonel) by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014). This novel, published in 1961, is a poignant portrayal of poverty and the human condition.
During the 20th century, Carlitos Salinas (1900-1986) was a renowned Mexican actor and comedian who appeared in numerous films and television shows, becoming a beloved figure in Mexican popular culture.
Another notable figure with the name Carlitos is Carlitos Noriega (1938-2018), a Peruvian singer-songwriter and guitarist who played a significant role in the development of Peruvian folk music, particularly the genre known as "vals criollo."
These are just a few examples of the many individuals who have carried the name Carlitos throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and cultures across the globe.
People
Carlitos + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carlitos 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
Carlitos: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carlitos?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 559 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carlitos 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 613,156 US residents.
Is Carlitos a common name?
We classify Carlitos as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 572 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carlitos most popular?
The single biggest year for Carlitos was 2006, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carlitos is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carlitos in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 589 people with the name Carlitos, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,321 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 Carlitos 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 Carlitos?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carlitos leans strongly male. 584 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 8 female bearers (1.4%). 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 Carlitos?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlitos is Hispanic at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Black (5.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.6%). 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 Carlitos most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Carlitos in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.1% (501 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 Carlitos in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carlitos a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carlitos in the SSA data are male. 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 Carlitos still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carlitos 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 Carlitos 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 common is the name Carlitos?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Carlitos on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.