Carnell
Of Celtic origin meaning "champion" or "brave warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 3,644 living Americans carry the first name Carnell. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Carnell today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carnell births was 1955 (102 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carnell. 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 Carnell with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.6K
~ 1 in 94,060 Americans
Peak year
1955
102 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,035
Tracked since 1897
Census
Carnell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,591 people with the first name Carnell, which placed it at #6,240 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
#6,240
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,591 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carnell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carnell is Black at 88.0%. The next largest groups are White (5.3%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Carnell 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 Carnell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.0% · 2,279
- White5.3% · 138
- Two or more races3.7% · 95
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Carnell
Carnell leans heavily male at 89.4% of total registrations, but 546 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Carnell as a male name
- Ranked #11,134 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1958 (92 births)
Carnell as a female name
- Ranked #5,035 in 1967
- 8 female births in 1967
- Peak: 1923 (24 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carnell leans strongly male. 2,376 people counted with this name were male (91.8%), compared with 212 female bearers (8.2%).
Popularity
Carnell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carnell from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 824 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carnell 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 Carnell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carnells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. North Carolina, Illinois, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Carnell, while Oklahoma, Maryland, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 65 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carnell
The given name Carnell has its origins rooted in the Latin language. It is derived from the Latin word "carnalis," which means "of the flesh" or "carnal." This name likely emerged during the early Christian era, when Latin was the predominant language used in religious texts and writings.
Carnell was a relatively uncommon name during the medieval period in Europe, but it did appear in some historical records and documents. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the writings of the 4th century Christian philosopher, St. Augustine of Hippo. In his work "Confessions," he makes reference to a man named Carnell, though little is known about this individual.
During the Renaissance period, the name gained some popularity among certain Christian communities, particularly in Italy and parts of France. It was seen as a name that symbolized the struggle between the spiritual and the carnal, reflecting the ongoing tension between earthly desires and religious devotion.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Carnell was an Italian monk and scholar, Carnell di Firenze (1320-1395). He was known for his extensive translations of ancient Greek texts into Latin, which helped preserve and disseminate classical knowledge during the Middle Ages.
In the 17th century, Carnell Whitfield (1632-1696) was a prominent Puritan minister and theologian in England. He was known for his fiery sermons and his staunch defense of Calvinist doctrine, which earned him both admirers and critics within the religious community.
During the American colonial period, a notable figure named Carnell Livingstone (1685-1748) played a significant role in the early settlement of New York. He was a wealthy landowner and merchant who helped establish trade routes and economic ties between the American colonies and Europe.
In the 19th century, Carnell Douglass (1817-1892) was an African-American abolitionist and orator who worked alongside Frederick Douglass in the anti-slavery movement. He was known for his powerful speeches and his unwavering commitment to the cause of emancipation.
Another notable bearer of the name was Carnell Chavez (1888-1962), a Mexican-American labor activist and organizer. He played a pivotal role in advocating for better working conditions and fair wages for migrant farmworkers in the southwestern United States during the early 20th century.
People
Carnell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carnell 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
Carnell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carnell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,644 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carnell 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 94,060 US residents.
Is Carnell a common name?
We classify Carnell as "Rare". It ranks above 95.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,154 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carnell most popular?
The single biggest year for Carnell was 1955, when 102 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carnell is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carnell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,591 people with the name Carnell, or 0.86 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,240 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 Carnell 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 Carnell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carnell leans strongly male. 2,376 people counted with this name were male (91.8%), compared with 212 female bearers (8.2%). 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 Carnell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carnell is Black at 88.0%. The next largest groups are White (5.3%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Carnell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Carnell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.0% (2,279 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 Carnell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carnell a male name?
Yes, 89.4% of people registered as Carnell 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 Carnell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carnell 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 Carnell 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 Carnell?
See how many people share the name Carnell on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.