Carlus
A masculine name of German origin, a variant of Charles meaning "manly".
Name Census estimates that about 375 living Americans carry the first name Carlus. It is a predominantly male name (98.1% of registrations). The average person named Carlus today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carlus births was 1970 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carlus. 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
375
~ 1 in 914,012 Americans
Peak year
1970
20 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2004 SSA rank
#7,126
Tracked since 1913
Census
Carlus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 383 people with the first name Carlus, which placed it at #24,935 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
#24,935
National first-name rank
People counted
383
383 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carlus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlus is Black at 66.1%. The next largest groups are White (22.7%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Carlus 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 Carlus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.1% · 253
- White22.7% · 87
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 18
- Two or more races3.1% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Carlus
Carlus leans heavily male at 98.1% of total registrations, but 10 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Carlus as a male name
- Ranked #9,087 in 2004
- 7 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1970 (20 births)
Carlus as a female name
- Ranked #7,126 in 1968
- 5 female births in 1968
- Peak: 1961 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carlus leans strongly male. 347 people counted with this name were male (90.8%), compared with 35 female bearers (9.2%).
Popularity
Carlus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carlus from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 144 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
Carlus 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 Carlus 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 Carlus
The name Carlus has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically from the Old Norse word "karl" which means "man" or "freeman." It emerged as a personal name during the Middle Ages, primarily in Scandinavia and parts of Northern Europe.
In the Viking Age, the name Carlus was associated with strength, bravery, and warrior culture. It was often bestowed upon sons as a symbol of their expected roles as protectors and leaders within their communities. The earliest recorded examples of the name can be found in ancient Norse sagas and Icelandic manuscripts from the 9th to 11th centuries.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Carlus was Carlus Magnus, better known as Charlemagne (742-814), the King of the Franks and the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. His reign was marked by military conquests, the spread of Christianity, and a cultural renaissance that laid the foundations for the medieval period in Western Europe.
Another influential figure was Carlus Martel (688-741), a Frankish statesman and military leader who famously defeated the Umayyad Caliphate at the Battle of Tours in 732, halting the Muslim conquest of Western Europe. His victory was a pivotal moment in European history, and his name, meaning "Charles the Hammer," reflected his prowess on the battlefield.
During the Renaissance, the name Carlus gained popularity among European nobility and intellectuals. One notable bearer was Carlus V (1500-1558), the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, who presided over a vast empire and played a significant role in the religious and political conflicts of the 16th century.
In the realm of literature, Carlus Dickens (1812-1870), the renowned English novelist, is remembered for his timeless works such as "A Tale of Two Cities," "Oliver Twist," and "Great Expectations." His novels provided insightful social commentary and brought to life the struggles and triumphs of ordinary people in Victorian England.
Lastly, Carlus Darwin (1809-1882), the English naturalist and geologist, left an indelible mark on the world with his groundbreaking theory of evolution by natural selection. His seminal work, "On the Origin of Species," revolutionized our understanding of life on Earth and laid the foundation for modern evolutionary biology.
People
Carlus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carlus 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
Carlus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carlus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 375 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carlus 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 914,012 US residents.
Is Carlus a common name?
We classify Carlus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 535 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carlus most popular?
The single biggest year for Carlus was 1970, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carlus is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carlus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 383 people with the name Carlus, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,935 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 Carlus 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 Carlus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carlus leans strongly male. 347 people counted with this name were male (90.8%), compared with 35 female bearers (9.2%). 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 Carlus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlus is Black at 66.1%. The next largest groups are White (22.7%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Carlus most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Carlus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.1% (253 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 Carlus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carlus a male name?
Yes, 98.1% of people registered as Carlus 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 Carlus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carlus 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 Carlus 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 Americans are named Carlus?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.