Carri
Carri is a rare feminine given name of English origin meaning "charioteer".
Name Census estimates that about 3,054 living Americans carry the first name Carri. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carri today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carri births was 1975 (172 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carri. 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 Carri with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.1K
~ 1 in 112,231 Americans
Peak year
1975
172 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2019 SSA rank
#14,157
Tracked since 1953
Census
Carri in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,345 people with the first name Carri, which placed it at #5,202 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
#5,202
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,345 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carri
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carri is White at 88.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Black (3.5%). 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 Carri 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 Carri at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.5% · 2,959
- Two or more races3.9% · 132
- Black or African American3.5% · 117
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 80
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 26
Popularity
Carri: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carri from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 1,454 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carri 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 Carri during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Carri, while West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 62 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carri
The name Carri is believed to have originated from the Gaelic language, which was spoken in ancient Ireland and Scotland. It is thought to be a feminine form of the name Cairbre, which means "charioteer" or "warrior." The name Carri likely emerged during the Middle Ages, when Gaelic names were prevalent in these regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Carri can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In this text, there is a reference to a woman named Carri, who lived in the 9th century AD. Unfortunately, not much is known about her life or the context in which her name was mentioned.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Carri mac Muiredhaigh was a prominent Irish poet and historian. He was born around 1140 and is known for his work entitled "The Book of Leinster," which documented the history and genealogy of the Leinster region in Ireland.
During the 16th century, a woman named Carri O'Neill was a member of the powerful O'Neill dynasty, which ruled parts of Ulster, Ireland. She was born around 1520 and was a relative of the famous chieftain, Shane O'Neill.
In the 18th century, Carri MacLean was a Scottish woman who lived on the Isle of Mull. She was born in 1712 and was known for her expertise in traditional Gaelic music and storytelling.
Another notable figure with the name Carri was Carri Jones, a Welsh author and poet who lived in the 19th century. She was born in 1835 and was celebrated for her contributions to Welsh literature, particularly her collection of poems titled "Caniadau Carri" (Songs of Carri).
Over the centuries, the name Carri has been used across various cultures and regions, but its roots can be traced back to the ancient Gaelic language and the historical regions of Ireland and Scotland. While not a widely popular name today, it holds a rich historical significance and has been borne by several notable individuals throughout the ages.
People
Carri + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carri 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
Carri: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carri?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,054 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carri 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 112,231 US residents.
Is Carri a common name?
We classify Carri as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,466 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carri most popular?
The single biggest year for Carri was 1975, when 172 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carri is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carri in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,345 people with the name Carri, or 1.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,202 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 Carri 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 Carri?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carri appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,339 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Carri?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carri is White at 88.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Black (3.5%). 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 Carri most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carri in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.5% (2,959 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 Carri in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carri a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carri 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 Carri still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carri 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 Carri 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 named Carri?
Find out how many people have the name Carri on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.