Caroline Shaw
There are approximately 97 people named Caroline Shaw living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 3,533,550 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Caroline with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Shaw. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
97
1 in 3,533,550
Named Caroline
187K
Alive today
Named Shaw
178K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 187K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 2000
Average age: 31
Top Census group: White (81.2%)
Estimated bearers: 178K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #169
Per 100K: 51.92
Top ancestry: White (69.4%)
First name trend
Caroline: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Caroline. The peak year was 2000 with 5,029 births. The average person named Caroline today is 31 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Caroline
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Caroline, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 81.2%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Caroline described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Caroline at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White81.2% · 161,565
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 14,992
- Black or African American4.0% · 7,900
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 7,862
- Two or more races2.9% · 5,726
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 994
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Shaw surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Shaw, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 69.4%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Shaw described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Shaw at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White69.4% · 107,763
- Black or African American20.5% · 31,787
- Two or more races4.3% · 6,638
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 5,210
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 2,670
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1,116
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Caroline has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0546% of the US population, based on 187,040 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Caroline right now.
The surname Shaw appears at a rate of 51.92 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0519%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 97 people with the full name Caroline Shaw. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Caroline
Related
Other people with the surname Shaw
FAQ
Caroline Shaw: questions and answers
How many people are named Caroline Shaw?
We estimate approximately 97 people in the United States share the full name Caroline Shaw. That works out to about 1 in 3,533,550 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0546%) with the surname frequency (51.92 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Caroline Shaw?
We classify Caroline Shaw as "Very Rare". About 1 in 3,533,550 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Caroline a male or female name?
Caroline is predominantly female. Out of 248,055 total SSA registrations, 0.1% were male and 99.9% were female. See the full Caroline profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How common is the name Caroline Shaw?
If you just want to know how common the name Caroline Shaw is, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.