Carolle
A feminine French form of the name Carol meaning "song of happiness".
Name Census estimates that about 81 living Americans carry the first name Carolle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carolle today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carolle births was 1942 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carolle. 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
- • The typical person named Carolle is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Carolles were born before 1959.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Carolle. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
81
~ 1 in 4,231,535 Americans
Peak year
1942
17 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1963 SSA rank
#6,709
Tracked since 1924
Census
Carolle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 488 people with the first name Carolle, which placed it at #20,967 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
#20,967
National first-name rank
People counted
488
488 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carolle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carolle is Black at 50.0%. The next largest groups are White (44.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Carolle 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 Carolle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.0% · 244
- White44.3% · 216
- Two or more races2.5% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 5
Popularity
Carolle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carolle from the 1920s through to the 1960s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 93 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
Carolle 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 Carolle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carolle
The given name Carolle is of French origin, derived from the Old French word "carole," which means a dance or a round dance. The name first emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 12th century, in France and surrounding regions where Old French was spoken.
The name Carolle is closely related to the more common name Carol, which is also derived from the same Old French word, "carole." The root of this word can be traced back to the Latin word "choraula," which means a dance accompanied by music and singing.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Carolle can be found in a 13th-century French poem, where it was used as a feminine name. This suggests that the name was in use among the French nobility and literary circles during that time period.
In the 14th century, a French noblewoman named Carolle de Bourbon was mentioned in historical records as a member of the influential House of Bourbon. She lived from around 1330 to 1390 and was a prominent figure in the court of King Charles V of France.
Another notable bearer of the name Carolle was Carolle de Vaux, a French poet and playwright who lived in the 16th century. She was known for her contributions to the French Renaissance literary scene and her works that explored themes of love and courtship.
In the 18th century, Carolle de Mérindol was a French noblewoman and philanthropist who was known for her charitable work and support for the education of underprivileged children. She lived from 1720 to 1792.
Moving to the 19th century, Carolle de Chastellux was a French author and feminist who wrote extensively on women's rights and gender equality. She was born in 1825 and was an influential figure in the early French feminist movement.
Finally, in the 20th century, Carolle Andrée Simard was a Canadian actress and singer who appeared in numerous French-language films and television shows. She was born in 1925 and had a successful career in the entertainment industry spanning several decades.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Carolle, highlighting its rich heritage and cultural significance within the French-speaking world.
People
Carolle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carolle 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
Carolle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carolle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 81 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carolle 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 4,231,535 US residents.
Is Carolle a common name?
We classify Carolle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 188 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carolle most popular?
The single biggest year for Carolle was 1942, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carolle is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carolle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 488 people with the name Carolle, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,967 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 Carolle 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 Carolle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carolle appears almost entirely female. Of the 484 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Carolle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carolle is Black at 50.0%. The next largest groups are White (44.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Carolle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Carolle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.0% (244 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 Carolle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carolle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carolle 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 Carolle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carolle 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 Carolle 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 Carolle?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.