Carlous
A masculine name of French origin, a variant of the name Charles.
Name Census estimates that about 413 living Americans carry the first name Carlous. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Carlous today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carlous births was 1976 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carlous. 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
413
~ 1 in 829,914 Americans
Peak year
1976
21 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2006 SSA rank
#10,874
Tracked since 1920
Popularity
Carlous: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carlous from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 139 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
Carlous 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 Carlous 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 Carlous
The name Carlous is an old Germanic name with roots dating back to the late Roman era. It is believed to have originated from the Germanic word "karl," meaning "man" or "free man." The name was commonly used among the Frankish tribes that inhabited the region of modern-day France, Germany, and the Low Countries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Carlous can be found in the Frankish royal lineage. Carlous the Younger, a Frankish prince who lived in the 6th century, is mentioned in the historical records of Gregory of Tours, a Gallo-Roman historian and chronicler. He was the son of Clovis I, the first king of the Franks to unite all Frankish tribes under his rule.
In the 8th century, Carlous the Great, better known as Charlemagne, was the most renowned bearer of this name. He was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and later became the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne's reign was marked by significant military conquests, cultural and educational reforms, and the promotion of Christianity across Western Europe.
Another notable figure in history with the name Carlous was Carlous Martel, a Frankish statesman and military leader who lived from 688 to 741. He is credited with defeating the Umayyad Caliphate's invasion of Gaul at the Battle of Tours in 732, which halted the spread of Islamic rule in Western Europe.
During the Middle Ages, the name Carlous gained popularity among the nobility and royalty across Europe. Carlous IV, also known as Charles IV, was the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia from 1346 to 1378. He is renowned for issuing the Golden Bull, a decree that established the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire.
In the Renaissance period, Carlous V, or Charles V, was the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain from 1519 to 1556. He was one of the most powerful and influential monarchs of his time, ruling over vast territories that included much of Europe and the Americas.
While the name Carlous has its origins in Germanic languages, it has been adapted and used in various forms across different cultures and languages throughout history, such as Charles in English, Carlo in Italian, and Carlos in Spanish.
People
Carlous + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carlous 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
Carlous: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carlous?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 413 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carlous 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 829,914 US residents.
Is Carlous a common name?
We classify Carlous as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 510 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carlous most popular?
The single biggest year for Carlous was 1976, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carlous is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Carlous a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carlous 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.
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.