Carmin
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "crimson" or "bright red."
Name Census estimates that about 826 living Americans carry the first name Carmin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Carmin today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carmin births was 1986 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carmin. 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
826
~ 1 in 414,957 Americans
Peak year
1986
36 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
1961 SSA rank
#4,154
Tracked since 1913
Census
Carmin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,210 people with the first name Carmin, which placed it at #10,835 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
#10,835
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,210 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carmin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carmin is White at 44.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (36.3%) and Black (12.8%). 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 Carmin 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 Carmin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.2% · 535
- Hispanic or Latino36.3% · 439
- Black or African American12.8% · 155
- Two or more races4.0% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Carmin
Carmin leans heavily female at 86.9% of total registrations, but 129 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Carmin as a male name
- Ranked #4,154 in 1961
- 5 male births in 1961
- Peak: 1923 (11 births)
Carmin as a female name
- Ranked #11,278 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1986 (36 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carmin leans strongly female. 1,030 people counted with this name were female (85.3%), compared with 178 male bearers (14.7%).
Popularity
Carmin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carmin from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 183 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carmin 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 Carmin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carmins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New Jersey, New York recorded the most babies named Carmin, while Texas, New York, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carmin
The name Carmin is derived from the French word "carmin," which means "crimson" or "deep red." This name has its roots in the Latin word "carminus," which was used to describe the rich, vivid red color extracted from the cochineal insect.
The earliest recorded use of the name Carmin dates back to the 16th century in France, where it was primarily used as a descriptive term for the vibrant red dye obtained from the cochineal insect. This natural pigment was highly prized and played a significant role in the textile and art industries of the time.
Over the centuries, the name Carmin gradually transitioned from being solely a descriptive term to being used as a given name, particularly for individuals associated with the production or trade of the crimson dye. It became a popular name among artists, dyers, and merchants who valued the rich cultural and economic significance of the cochineal pigment.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Carmin was Carmin Rousseau, a French dyer who lived in the late 16th century and was renowned for his expertise in working with the cochineal dye. Another notable figure was Carmin Dubois, a 17th-century French painter known for her vivid use of the crimson pigment in her artwork.
In the 18th century, the name Carmin gained popularity among the French aristocracy, who appreciated its association with luxury and elegance. Carmin de La Rochefoucauld, a French noblewoman born in 1732, was a prominent figure in Parisian high society and was known for her exquisite taste in fashion and decoration.
As the name spread beyond France, it also found its way into other cultural contexts. Carmin Vasari, an Italian artist born in 1807, was celebrated for his masterful use of the crimson pigment in his frescoes and murals adorning various churches and palaces across Italy.
Another notable figure was Carmin Khalil, a Syrian poet born in 1885, whose works often featured vivid imagery inspired by the rich hues of the Middle Eastern landscapes. His poetry celebrated the beauty and symbolism of the crimson color, further cementing the name's association with vibrant and passionate expression.
While the name Carmin has its origins in France and was initially associated with the cochineal dye industry, it has since transcended its original context and become a name appreciated for its unique sound and evocative connotations of passion, vitality, and artistic expression.
People
Carmin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carmin 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
Carmin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carmin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 826 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carmin 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 414,957 US residents.
Is Carmin a common name?
We classify Carmin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 987 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carmin most popular?
The single biggest year for Carmin was 1986, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carmin is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carmin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,210 people with the name Carmin, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,835 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 Carmin 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 Carmin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carmin leans strongly female. 1,030 people counted with this name were female (85.3%), compared with 178 male bearers (14.7%). 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 Carmin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carmin is White at 44.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (36.3%) and Black (12.8%). 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 Carmin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carmin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.2% (535 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 Carmin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carmin a female name?
Yes, 86.9% of people registered as Carmin 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 Carmin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carmin 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 Carmin 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 have the name Carmin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.