Carlotta
Feminine form of Carlo, Italian variation of Charles, of Germanic origin meaning "free man".
Name Census estimates that about 4,009 living Americans carry the first name Carlotta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carlotta today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carlotta births was 1948 (255 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carlotta. 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 Carlotta with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.0K
~ 1 in 85,496 Americans
Peak year
1948
255 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,223
Tracked since 1880
Census
Carlotta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,444 people with the first name Carlotta, which placed it at #4,277 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
#4,277
National first-name rank
People counted
4.4K
4,444 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carlotta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlotta is White at 47.4%. The next largest groups are Black (33.4%) and Hispanic (13.1%). 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 Carlotta 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 Carlotta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.4% · 2,106
- Black or African American33.4% · 1,485
- Hispanic or Latino13.1% · 582
- Two or more races3.2% · 144
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 79
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 48
Popularity
Carlotta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carlotta from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,286 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carlotta 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 Carlotta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carlottas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, Illinois, Ohio recorded the most babies named Carlotta, while Oregon, New Jersey, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 78 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carlotta
The given name Carlotta has its origins in the Italian and Spanish languages. It is a feminine form of the masculine name Carlo, which is derived from the Germanic name Karloz, meaning "free man" or "nobleman." The name can be traced back to the 9th century, when it first appeared as a royal name among the Carolingian dynasty of France.
In the Middle Ages, the name Carlotta gained popularity across Europe, particularly in Italy and Spain. It was often associated with nobility and royalty. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is Carlotta, the daughter of King Charles III of Naples, who lived in the 14th century.
The name Carlotta has been borne by several notable figures throughout history. One of the most famous was Carlotta of Mexico (1840-1927), the wife of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. She played a significant role in the Mexican monarchy's struggle against the Republican forces in the 1860s.
Another prominent figure was Carlotta Grisi (1819-1899), an Italian romantic ballerina who achieved great fame in the 19th century. She was renowned for her performances in works by choreographers such as Jules Perrot and Jules Massenet.
In the world of literature, Carlotta Valdes is a significant character in Bram Stoker's famous novel "Dracula," published in 1897. She is depicted as a beautiful and charismatic woman who becomes the target of Count Dracula's obsession.
The name Carlotta was also borne by Carlotta Brianza (1867-1924), an Italian opera singer and actress who performed in several operas by composers like Giacomo Puccini and Pietro Mascagni.
Additionally, Carlotta Joaquina (1775-1830) was a Portuguese infanta and the daughter of King John VI of Portugal. She played a crucial role in the complex dynastic struggles of the early 19th century in Portugal and Brazil.
Throughout its history, the name Carlotta has maintained a connection with nobility, culture, and the arts, reflecting its regal and romantic origins. While its popularity has fluctuated over time, it remains a distinctive and elegant name with a rich historical legacy.
People
Carlotta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carlotta 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
Carlotta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carlotta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,009 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carlotta 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 85,496 US residents.
Is Carlotta a common name?
We classify Carlotta as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,427 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carlotta most popular?
The single biggest year for Carlotta was 1948, when 255 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carlotta 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 Carlotta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,444 people with the name Carlotta, or 1.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,277 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 Carlotta 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 Carlotta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carlotta appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,448 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Carlotta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlotta is White at 47.4%. The next largest groups are Black (33.4%) and Hispanic (13.1%). 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 Carlotta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carlotta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.4% (2,106 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 Carlotta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carlotta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carlotta 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 Carlotta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carlotta 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 Carlotta 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 Carlotta?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.