Carvel
A masculine name derived from the Old French term for "meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 218 living Americans carry the first name Carvel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Carvel today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carvel births was 1929 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carvel. 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 Carvel is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Carvels were born before 1969.
People living today
218
~ 1 in 1,572,268 Americans
Peak year
1929
17 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
2004 SSA rank
#11,637
Tracked since 1912
Census
Carvel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 376 people with the first name Carvel, which placed it at #25,264 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
#25,264
National first-name rank
People counted
376
376 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carvel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carvel is White at 49.2%. The next largest groups are Black (45.5%) and Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Carvel 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 Carvel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.2% · 185
- Black or African American45.5% · 171
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 10
- Two or more races2.7% · 10
Popularity
Carvel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carvel from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 103 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
Carvel 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 Carvel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carvels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Carvel
The name Carvel is an English surname that originates from the Old French word "cavel," meaning a small piece of land or plot. It is believed to have derived from the Latin word "cavillus," which translates to a small piece or portion. The name likely emerged as a surname during the Middle Ages in England, referring to individuals who owned or worked on small parcels of land.
The earliest recorded use of the name Carvel as a first name can be traced back to the 16th century in England. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Sir Carvel Cargill, a Scottish nobleman and diplomat who lived from 1537 to 1605. He served as an ambassador for King James VI of Scotland to several European courts.
Another notable bearer of the name Carvel was Captain Carvel Trelawny, a British naval officer who participated in several major battles during the 18th century. He was born in 1692 and died in 1748. Trelawny gained recognition for his bravery and leadership during the Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702 and the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718.
In the literary world, the name Carvel appears in the novel "The Cloister and the Hearth" by Charles Reade, published in 1861. The protagonist, Gerard Eliassoen, takes on the alias of Carvel during his travels across Europe. This fictional character may have contributed to the popularity of the name in the 19th century.
Another individual of note was Carvel Collins, an American artist and illustrator who lived from 1892 to 1925. He was best known for his work in book illustrations and magazine covers, particularly for publications like Harper's Bazaar and Vogue.
In the realm of sports, Carvel Holway was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the early 20th century. He was born in 1888 and played for various teams, including the Toronto Blueshirts and the Montreal Wanderers, between 1908 and 1919.
While the name Carvel has been used as a first name throughout history, its usage has been relatively uncommon compared to more widespread names. However, it has maintained a unique and distinctive quality, often associated with its historical roots and literary references.
People
Carvel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carvel 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
Carvel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carvel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 218 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carvel 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 1,572,268 US residents.
Is Carvel a common name?
We classify Carvel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 520 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carvel most popular?
The single biggest year for Carvel was 1929, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carvel is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carvel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 376 people with the name Carvel, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,264 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 Carvel 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 Carvel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carvel leans strongly male. 333 people counted with this name were male (86.9%), compared with 50 female bearers (13.1%). 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 Carvel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carvel is White at 49.2%. The next largest groups are Black (45.5%) and Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Carvel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carvel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.2% (185 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 Carvel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carvel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carvel 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.
Is Carvel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carvel 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 Carvel 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 Carvel?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Carvel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.