Carrel
A masculine French name derived from Carolus, meaning "manly" or "strong".
Name Census estimates that about 88 living Americans carry the first name Carrel. It is a predominantly male name (97.3% of registrations). The average person named Carrel today is around 82 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carrel births was 1924 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carrel. 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 Carrel is about 82 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Carrels were born before 1954.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Carrel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
88
~ 1 in 3,894,936 Americans
Peak year
1924
16 babies that year
Average age
82
years old
1960 SSA rank
#3,715
Tracked since 1912
Gender
Gender distribution for Carrel
Carrel leans heavily male at 97.3% of total registrations, but 11 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Carrel as a male name
- Ranked #3,715 in 1960
- 6 male births in 1960
- Peak: 1924 (16 births)
Carrel as a female name
- Ranked #4,259 in 1943
- 6 female births in 1943
- Peak: 1943 (6 births)
Popularity
Carrel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carrel from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 116 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carrel 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 Carrel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carrels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Carrel
The given name Carrel has its origins in the French language, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Old French word "carrel," which referred to a small enclosure or room, often found in monasteries or cloisters, where monks or scholars would study or write. This connection suggests that the name may have initially been associated with those who pursued academic or religious pursuits.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Carrel was a French monk named Carrel de Viry, who lived in the 12th century and served as the abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif in Sens, France. His name is mentioned in several historical documents from that period, reflecting the monastic origins of the name.
In the 13th century, another notable figure bearing the name Carrel was a French philosopher and theologian named Carrel de Valenciennes. He was a prominent scholar at the University of Paris and wrote several treatises on various philosophical and theological topics.
During the Renaissance period, a French surgeon named Carrel de Gournay (1535-1609) gained recognition for his contributions to the field of medicine. He is credited with developing innovative techniques in the treatment of wounds and is considered one of the pioneers of modern surgery.
In more recent times, the French-American surgeon and biologist Alexis Carrel (1873-1944) achieved worldwide fame for his groundbreaking work in organ transplantation and vascular surgery. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1912 for his pioneering research on surgical techniques for suturing blood vessels and transplanting organs.
Another notable figure with the name Carrel was the French novelist and essayist Armand-Emmanuel Carrel (1893-1944), whose works explored themes of nationalism, traditionalism, and anti-Semitism. He was a controversial figure due to his involvement with fascist movements during the interwar period.
While the name Carrel has French origins, it has also been adopted and used in other cultures and languages over time, reflecting the cultural exchange and migration patterns throughout history.
People
Carrel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carrel 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
Carrel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carrel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 88 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carrel 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 3,894,936 US residents.
Is Carrel a common name?
We classify Carrel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 406 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carrel most popular?
The single biggest year for Carrel was 1924, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carrel is about 82 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Carrel a male name?
Yes, 97.3% of people registered as Carrel 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.
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.