Carlyon
A masculine given name derived from the town of Charlton, England.
Name Census estimates that about 315 living Americans carry the first name Carlyon. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carlyon today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carlyon births was 1946 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carlyon. 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
- • The typical person named Carlyon is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Carlyons were born before 1965.
People living today
315
~ 1 in 1,088,109 Americans
Peak year
1946
26 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1973 SSA rank
#6,755
Tracked since 1930
Census
Carlyon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 224 people with the first name Carlyon, which placed it at #35,741 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
#35,741
National first-name rank
People counted
224
224 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carlyon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlyon is White at 49.1%. The next largest groups are Black (39.3%) and Two or More Races (6.7%). 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 Carlyon 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 Carlyon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.1% · 110
- Black or African American39.3% · 88
- Two or more races6.7% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 2
Popularity
Carlyon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carlyon from the 1930s through to the 1970s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 196 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carlyon 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 Carlyon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carlyons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Mississippi, Kentucky, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Carlyon, while Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carlyon
The name Carlyon is an English given name derived from the Old French name Carlun, which itself is a diminutive form of the Germanic name Charles or Carl. The name Charles comes from the Frankish language and is thought to be derived from the Germanic word "karl," meaning "man" or "freeman."
Carlyon was a relatively uncommon name in historical records, but it did have some notable bearers throughout history. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name comes from the 12th century, when Carlyon de Briouze was a Norman nobleman who lived in England. Another early bearer of the name was Sir Carlyon Legh, who was an English knight and landowner in the 15th century.
In the 16th century, there was a Carlyon Griffith, who was a Welsh poet and writer. He is best known for his works in the Welsh language, which helped to preserve and promote the use of the language during a time when it was under threat from English dominance.
Moving into the 17th century, Carlyon Whitelocke was an English lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Long Parliament during the English Civil War. He was a supporter of the Parliamentary cause and played a role in the negotiations with King Charles I.
Fast forward to the 19th century, and we find Carlyon Bellairs, who was an English novelist and travel writer. He was best known for his works of fiction, which often featured historical or adventure themes.
Throughout history, the name Carlyon has remained relatively rare, but it has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including noblemen, knights, writers, politicians, and lawyers. While not a particularly common name, it has managed to leave its mark on the historical record, reflecting the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of those who have carried it.
People
Carlyon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carlyon 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
Carlyon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carlyon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 315 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carlyon 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 1,088,109 US residents.
Is Carlyon a common name?
We classify Carlyon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 513 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carlyon most popular?
The single biggest year for Carlyon was 1946, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carlyon is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carlyon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 224 people with the name Carlyon, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,741 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 Carlyon 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 Carlyon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carlyon leans strongly female. 206 people counted with this name were female (90.4%), compared with 22 male bearers (9.6%). 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 Carlyon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlyon is White at 49.1%. The next largest groups are Black (39.3%) and Two or More Races (6.7%). 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 Carlyon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carlyon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.1% (110 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 Carlyon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carlyon a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carlyon 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 Carlyon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carlyon 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 Carlyon 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 are named Carlyon?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.