US rank #135 Boys' name Peak 2001 304,581 births

Carlos — #135 US boys' name

304,581 babies named Carlos in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 2001. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1880s2091890s2521900s4891910s21101920s47851930s55531940s81001950s158221960s223911970s369481980s415031990s551792000s631962010s352982020s12746
#135
of 14,243 boys in use

More common than 99.1% of names given to boys today.

2000s
Peak decade

21% of everyone ever named Carlos was born in this single decade.

2001
Single peak year

6,842 babies were named Carlos in 2001 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Carlos

The Social Security Administration has registered 304,581 babies named Carlos between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Carlos currently holds the #135 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 2001, when 6,842 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Carlos performed strongest in the 2000s, accumulating 63,196 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Carlos shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 77,281 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Texas and New York. In total, SSA state-level files list Carlos in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Carlos in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 304,581 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Carlos at a glance

Top 1,000 boys' name

Total births

304,581

Since 1880

145 years of records

Peak year

2001

6,842 births that year

Strongest decade: 2000s

Current rank

#135

Among boys

As of 2024

Active since

1880

Recorded for 145 years

Last year on file: 2024

Carlos popularity over time — boys

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880

Top 1,000 boys' name
Peak year (2001)
6,842
Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
-2,00002,0004,0006,0008,000 202420051986196719481929191018911880 17

Carlos popularity over time — girls

2,040 total births recorded since 1913 (Carlos as girls' name)

Unisex variant — 2,040 births
0204060 202320021990197819661954194119291913 5

Carlos by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 2000s
Peak decade
2000s
63,196 births that decade — 21% of Carlos's all-time total
1880s2091890s2521900s4891910s21101920s47851930s55531940s81001950s158221960s223911970s369481980s415031990s551792000s631962010s352982020s12746

Carlos by state

Where Carlos concentrates geographically — total births since 1880

Regionally concentrated
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Carlos
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
77,281 25.4%
#2 Texas
60,064 19.7%
#3 New York
25,449 8.4%
#4 Florida
15,597 5.1%
#5 Illinois
12,892 4.2%
#6 Arizona
11,567 3.8%
#7 New Jersey
7,971 2.6%
#8 Georgia
6,443 2.1%
California share of Carlos's total US births 25.4%
Even split

77,281 of 304,581 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Carlos appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Carlos?
304,581 babies have been named Carlos since 1880. It currently ranks #135 among boys. The peak year was 2001 with 6,842 births.
When was Carlos most popular?
Carlos was most popular in the 2000s decade with 63,196 total births. The single peak year was 2001.
Where is Carlos most popular?
The top states for the name Carlos are California (77,281 births), Texas (60,064 births), New York (25,449 births).
How long has the name Carlos been used?
Carlos has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 145 years of data through 2024.
What names are similar to Carlos?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Carl, Carter, Carson, Carlton, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

Keep exploring Carlos

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Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.