Carolina
A feminine given name with German origins meaning "free woman".
Name Census estimates that about 41,159 living Americans carry the first name Carolina. It sits at #428 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carolina today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carolina births was 2004 (1,270 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carolina. 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
- • Although Carolina is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 137 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
41K
~ 1 in 8,328 Americans
Peak year
2004
1,270 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
1996 SSA rank
#428
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Carolina
Out of the 47,333 babies given the name Carolina since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Carolina as a male name
- Ranked #9,207 in 1996
- 5 male births in 1996
- Peak: 1989 (16 births)
Carolina as a female name
- Ranked #428 in 2024
- 716 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (1,270 births)
Popularity
Carolina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carolina from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 11,073 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Carolina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carolina 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 Carolina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carolinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Carolina, while West Virginia, Delaware, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 981 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carolina
The name Carolina has its origins in the Latin language and likely emerged during the medieval period. It is derived from the masculine given name Carolus, which itself comes from the Germanic name Karl, meaning "free man" or "husband." The feminine form Carolina essentially means "the female Caroline."
Carolina gained popularity across Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions where Latin and its Romance language derivatives were spoken. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in documents from Italy, France, and Spain from the 11th and 12th centuries.
One notable early bearer of the name was Carolina Beatrix Ventur, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 13th century. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of various charitable causes.
In the 16th century, Carolina Michaelis de Vasconcelos, a Portuguese philologist and academic, made significant contributions to the study of Romance languages and Portuguese literature. She lived from 1851 to 1925.
The name also has a connection to the Carolingian dynasty, which ruled over much of Western Europe from the 8th to the 10th centuries. The dynasty was founded by Charlemagne, whose name in Latin was Carolus Magnus.
Carolina Coronado Romero de Quintana was a Spanish Romantic poet and writer who lived from 1820 to 1911. She was known for her lyrical poetry and her advocacy for women's rights.
Another notable figure was Carolina Müller-Beeck, a German painter and illustrator who lived from 1825 to 1904. She was recognized for her skilled portraiture and her illustrations of children's books.
In the realm of religious history, there is a record of a Saint Carolina who lived in the 3rd century and was martyred during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire. However, details about her life are scarce.
As the name spread across Europe and eventually to the Americas, it took on various spellings and forms, such as Carola, Carolyn, and Karolina, among others. However, Carolina remained a popular and enduring variation of the name.
People
Carolina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carolina 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
Carolina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carolina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 41,159 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carolina 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 8,328 US residents.
Is Carolina a common name?
We classify Carolina as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 47,333 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carolina most popular?
The single biggest year for Carolina was 2004, when 1,270 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carolina is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Carolina a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Carolina 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.
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.