Carolin
A feminine name of German and Scandinavian origin meaning "free woman".
Name Census estimates that about 877 living Americans carry the first name Carolin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carolin today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carolin births was 1942 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carolin. 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
877
~ 1 in 390,826 Americans
Peak year
1942
39 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2019 SSA rank
#9,875
Tracked since 1912
Census
Carolin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,410 people with the first name Carolin, which placed it at #6,611 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
#6,611
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,410 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carolin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carolin is White at 57.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.4%) and Black (9.7%). 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 Carolin 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 Carolin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.5% · 1,385
- Hispanic or Latino26.4% · 637
- Black or African American9.7% · 233
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 96
- Two or more races1.9% · 46
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 13
Popularity
Carolin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carolin from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 291 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
Carolin 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 Carolin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carolins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Missouri, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Carolin, while Texas, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carolin
Carolin is a feminine given name that originated from the Latin word "Carolus", which means "manly" or "masculine". It is derived from the Germanic name "Karl", which means "free man". The name Carolin became popular during the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe.
The name Carolin has its roots in the Carolingian dynasty, which ruled over a large part of Europe during the 8th and 9th centuries. This dynasty was founded by Charlemagne, whose given name was Carolus Magnus. As a result, the name Carolin became closely associated with royalty and nobility.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Carolin can be found in the 12th century. A Benedictine nun named Carolin von Grünberg, born in 1182, is considered one of the earliest known individuals to bear this name. She was known for her piety and her writings on spiritual matters.
During the Renaissance, the name Carolin gained further popularity. Carolin of Brandenburg (1516-1619) was a German princess and the daughter of Elector Joachim I Nestor of Brandenburg. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for the Protestant Reformation.
In the 17th century, Carolin Schlick (1609-1660) was a German noblewoman and horticulturist. She is credited with introducing the cultivation of tulips to Germany and popularizing the flower among the nobility.
Another notable figure was Carolin Michaelis (1851-1917), a German writer and translator. She was known for her translations of works by authors such as Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, and her contributions to the feminist movement in Germany.
Carolin Gallego de Romano (1918-2022) was a Colombian mathematician and educator. She made significant contributions to the field of mathematics education and was recognized for her efforts in promoting science and technology in Colombia.
Carolin Kebekus (born 1980) is a German comedian and television presenter. She is known for her biting social and political commentary, and her work has been widely acclaimed both in Germany and internationally.
People
Carolin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carolin 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
Carolin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carolin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 877 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carolin 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 390,826 US residents.
Is Carolin a common name?
We classify Carolin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,255 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carolin most popular?
The single biggest year for Carolin was 1942, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carolin is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carolin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,410 people with the name Carolin, or 0.80 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,611 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 Carolin 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 Carolin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carolin appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,410 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Carolin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carolin is White at 57.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.4%) and Black (9.7%). 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 Carolin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carolin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.5% (1,385 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 Carolin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carolin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carolin 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 Carolin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carolin 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 Carolin 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 Carolin?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.