Carmine
Deep crimson red color derived from an insect dye.
Name Census estimates that about 8,068 living Americans carry the first name Carmine. It is a predominantly male name (96.6% of registrations). The average person named Carmine today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carmine births was 2006 (267 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carmine. 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 Carmine with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Carmine is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 481 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
8.1K
~ 1 in 42,483 Americans
Peak year
2006
267 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,097
Tracked since 1891
Census
Carmine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,472 people with the first name Carmine, which placed it at #2,754 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
#2,754
National first-name rank
People counted
8.5K
8,472 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carmine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carmine is White at 84.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.7%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Carmine 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 Carmine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.5% · 7,156
- Hispanic or Latino9.7% · 824
- Two or more races2.7% · 232
- Black or African American2.1% · 175
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 51
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 34
Gender
Gender distribution for Carmine
Carmine leans heavily male at 96.6% of total registrations, but 481 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Carmine as a male name
- Ranked #1,097 in 2024
- 196 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (262 births)
Carmine as a female name
- Ranked #13,762 in 2023
- 6 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1918 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carmine leans strongly male. 7,962 people counted with this name were male (94.1%), compared with 502 female bearers (5.9%).
Popularity
Carmine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carmine from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,211 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Carmine remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carmine 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 Carmine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carmines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Carmine, while Virginia, Nevada, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 459 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carmine
The name Carmine originates from the Italian language and culture, with its roots tracing back to the Late Latin word "carminus," meaning "deep red" or "crimson." This vibrant color is derived from the precious natural dye obtained from the carmine scale insect, which was valued and traded extensively in ancient times.
In its earliest forms, the name Carmine was likely used as a descriptive term or nickname for individuals with reddish hair or complexion. As a given name, it emerged during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions where Italian culture and language held influence.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Carmine can be found in the writings of the 13th-century Italian poet and philosopher, Dante Alighieri, who mentioned a character named Carmine in his celebrated work, "The Divine Comedy." This literary appearance lent the name a certain artistic and intellectual connotation.
Throughout the centuries, the name Carmine has been borne by notable figures across various fields. One such individual was Carmine Crocco (1830-1905), an Italian brigand and guerrilla leader who fought against the unification of Italy during the Risorgimento period.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Carmine Galante (1910-1979), a notorious American mobster and boss of the Bonanno crime family in New York City. His life and exploits have been the subject of numerous books and films, solidifying the name's association with a certain air of toughness and notoriety.
In the realm of arts and entertainment, Carmine Coppola (1910-1991), an American composer and father of acclaimed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, left an indelible mark on the world of music. His compositions for films and television shows showcased the melodic and artistic qualities of the name.
The name Carmine has also graced the world of sports, with Carmine Persico (1933-2019), an American professional baseball player who played for the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators in the 1950s and 1960s, becoming a respected figure in the sporting community.
Lastly, Carmine Appice (born 1946) is a renowned American drummer and percussionist who has played with numerous iconic rock bands, including Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, and Beck, Bogert & Appice. His virtuosity and contributions to the music industry have solidified the name's association with creativity and artistic expression.
People
Carmine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carmine 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
Carmine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carmine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,068 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carmine 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 42,483 US residents.
Is Carmine a common name?
We classify Carmine as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,216 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carmine most popular?
The single biggest year for Carmine was 2006, when 267 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carmine is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carmine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,472 people with the name Carmine, or 2.81 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,754 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 Carmine 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 Carmine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carmine leans strongly male. 7,962 people counted with this name were male (94.1%), compared with 502 female bearers (5.9%). 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 Carmine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carmine is White at 84.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.7%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Carmine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carmine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.5% (7,156 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 Carmine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carmine a male name?
Yes, 96.6% of people registered as Carmine 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 Carmine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carmine 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 Carmine 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 called Carmine?
Find out how many Americans are named Carmine on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.