Carlos
Carlos was given to 2,418 boys in 2025, #150 among boys’ names; 309,076 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 273,000 Americans named Carlos and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (88% of everyone recorded); the median is 31 years old and half are between 20 and 46.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Carlos by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Carlos mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Carlos is “a male given name from Portuguese or from Spanish [in turn from Latin, in turn from the Germanic languages], equivalent to English Charles, Carl, or Karl.”
Borrowed from Portuguese and Spanish Carlos. Doublet of Carl, Charles, and Karl.
/ˈkɑɹ.loʊs/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Carlos?
#150 among boys’ names, 2025
Carlos fell from #118 in 2015 to #150 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 1.8 to 1.4 per 1,000.
6,864 babies in 2001, the peak
Carlos peaked in 2001, when 6,864 babies were given it (6,842 boys, #59 among boys’ names). The 2,418 births of 2025 are 35% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,418 | #150 | 1.4 |
| 2024 | 2,626 | #135 | 1.5 |
| 2023 | 2,557 | #139 | 1.5 |
| 2022 | 2,594 | #147 | 1.5 |
| 2021 | 2,506 | #151 | 1.4 |
| 2020 | 2,480 | #149 | 1.4 |
| 2019 | 2,846 | #134 | 1.6 |
| 2018 | 2,864 | #138 | 1.6 |
| 2017 | 3,075 | #134 | 1.7 |
| 2016 | 3,204 | #129 | 1.7 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 3,421 | #118 | 1.8 |
| 2014 | 3,424 | #118 | 1.8 |
| 2013 | 3,684 | #106 | 1.9 |
| 2012 | 4,010 | #95 | 2.1 |
| 2011 | 4,182 | #91 | 2.2 |
| 2010 | 4,591 | #89 | 2.4 |
| 2009 | 5,379 | #79 | 2.7 |
| 2008 | 6,054 | #73 | 3.0 |
| 2007 | 6,420 | #70 | 3.1 |
| 2006 | 6,549 | #70 | 3.2 |
| 2005 | 6,563 | #70 | 3.3 |
| 2004 | 6,260 | #71 | 3.2 |
| 2003 | 6,218 | #66 | 3.1 |
| 2002 | 6,592 | #65 | 3.4 |
| 2001 | 6,842 | #59 | 3.5 |
| 2000 | 6,322 | #66 | 3.2 |
| 1999 | 6,665 | #59 | 3.5 |
| 1998 | 5,481 | #69 | 2.9 |
| 1997 | 5,463 | #67 | 2.9 |
| 1996 | 5,464 | #67 | 2.9 |
| 1995 | 5,545 | #68 | 2.9 |
| 1994 | 5,329 | #72 | 2.8 |
| 1993 | 5,353 | #72 | 2.7 |
| 1992 | 5,342 | #69 | 2.7 |
| 1991 | 5,330 | #72 | 2.6 |
| 1990 | 5,213 | #75 | 2.5 |
| 1989 | 4,638 | #77 | 2.3 |
| 1988 | 4,127 | #80 | 2.2 |
| 1987 | 4,149 | #74 | 2.2 |
| 1986 | 4,090 | #76 | 2.2 |
| 1985 | 4,089 | #74 | 2.2 |
| 1984 | 3,964 | #74 | 2.2 |
| 1983 | 3,912 | #75 | 2.2 |
| 1982 | 4,268 | #71 | 2.4 |
| 1981 | 4,185 | #71 | 2.3 |
| 1980 | 4,084 | #78 | 2.3 |
| 1979 | 4,165 | #73 | 2.4 |
| 1978 | 3,729 | #78 | 2.3 |
| 1977 | 3,795 | #74 | 2.3 |
| 1976 | 3,787 | #70 | 2.4 |
| 1975 | 3,793 | #73 | 2.4 |
| 1974 | 3,871 | #71 | 2.5 |
| 1973 | 3,569 | #74 | 2.3 |
| 1972 | 3,434 | #84 | 2.1 |
| 1971 | 3,426 | #88 | 1.9 |
| 1970 | 3,380 | #98 | 1.8 |
| 1969 | 2,891 | #110 | 1.6 |
| 1968 | 2,497 | #121 | 1.4 |
| 1967 | 2,298 | #129 | 1.3 |
| 1966 | 2,159 | #138 | 1.2 |
| 1965 | 2,131 | #144 | 1.1 |
| 1964 | 2,195 | #150 | 1.1 |
| 1963 | 2,112 | #156 | 1.0 |
| 1962 | 2,119 | #157 | 1.0 |
| 1961 | 2,001 | #164 | 0.94 |
| 1960 | 1,993 | #167 | 0.93 |
| 1959 | 1,947 | #162 | 0.91 |
| 1958 | 1,904 | #165 | 0.90 |
| 1957 | 1,787 | #173 | 0.83 |
| 1956 | 1,796 | #166 | 0.85 |
| 1955 | 1,703 | #166 | 0.83 |
| 1954 | 1,611 | #173 | 0.79 |
| 1953 | 1,393 | #181 | 0.71 |
| 1952 | 1,258 | #188 | 0.65 |
| 1951 | 1,233 | #189 | 0.65 |
| 1950 | 1,189 | #188 | 0.66 |
| 1949 | 1,135 | #184 | 0.64 |
| 1948 | 1,027 | #193 | 0.59 |
| 1947 | 1,032 | #197 | 0.56 |
| 1946 | 867 | #199 | 0.53 |
| 1945 | 719 | #200 | 0.53 |
| 1944 | 689 | #211 | 0.51 |
| 1943 | 698 | #211 | 0.49 |
| 1942 | 660 | #221 | 0.48 |
| 1941 | 614 | #216 | 0.50 |
| 1940 | 659 | #201 | 0.57 |
| 1939 | 579 | #212 | 0.52 |
| 1938 | 583 | #210 | 0.53 |
| 1937 | 531 | #225 | 0.50 |
| 1936 | 536 | #217 | 0.52 |
| 1935 | 559 | #214 | 0.54 |
| 1934 | 559 | #217 | 0.54 |
| 1933 | 563 | #208 | 0.57 |
| 1932 | 520 | #231 | 0.50 |
| 1931 | 545 | #224 | 0.52 |
| 1930 | 578 | #222 | 0.53 |
| 1929 | 557 | #228 | 0.52 |
| 1928 | 583 | #224 | 0.53 |
| 1927 | 544 | #242 | 0.48 |
| 1926 | 496 | #250 | 0.45 |
| 1925 | 471 | #261 | 0.42 |
| 1924 | 452 | #269 | 0.40 |
| 1923 | 427 | #274 | 0.39 |
| 1922 | 441 | #270 | 0.41 |
| 1921 | 393 | #283 | 0.36 |
| 1920 | 421 | #267 | 0.40 |
| 1919 | 312 | #314 | 0.32 |
| 1918 | 348 | #295 | 0.34 |
| 1917 | 298 | #309 | 0.32 |
| 1916 | 234 | #352 | 0.26 |
| 1915 | 273 | #309 | 0.32 |
| 1914 | 210 | #313 | 0.32 |
| 1913 | 160 | #317 | 0.31 |
| 1912 | 124 | #341 | 0.29 |
| 1911 | 69 | #330 | 0.31 |
| 1910 | 82 | #271 | 0.42 |
| 1909 | 60 | #292 | 0.37 |
| 1908 | 56 | #291 | 0.36 |
| 1907 | 74 | #239 | 0.50 |
| 1906 | 50 | #283 | 0.38 |
| 1905 | 58 | #260 | 0.44 |
| 1904 | 38 | #322 | 0.30 |
| 1903 | 41 | #295 | 0.34 |
| 1902 | 37 | #319 | 0.30 |
| 1901 | 38 | #277 | 0.36 |
| 1900 | 37 | #360 | 0.25 |
| 1899 | 36 | #290 | 0.34 |
| 1898 | 30 | #350 | 0.24 |
| 1897 | 28 | #353 | 0.25 |
| 1896 | 30 | #352 | 0.25 |
| 1895 | 20 | #440 | 0.17 |
| 1894 | 25 | #368 | 0.22 |
| 1893 | 26 | #350 | 0.23 |
| 1892 | 24 | #385 | 0.20 |
| 1891 | 16 | #443 | 0.16 |
| 1890 | 17 | #439 | 0.15 |
| 1889 | 25 | #351 | 0.23 |
| 1888 | 29 | #343 | 0.24 |
| 1887 | 20 | #367 | 0.20 |
| 1886 | 16 | #456 | 0.14 |
| 1885 | 28 | #318 | 0.26 |
| 1884 | 13 | #524 | 0.11 |
| 1883 | 22 | #359 | 0.21 |
| 1882 | 20 | #400 | 0.18 |
| 1881 | 19 | #390 | 0.19 |
| 1880 | 17 | #428 | 0.15 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Carlos a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Carlos has been given almost only to boys: 2,040 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Carlos: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Carlos, and how old are they?
273,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 88% of the 309,076 Americans ever recorded as Carlos. The median Carlos alive today is 31 years old; half are between 20 and 46.
The 2020 Census counted 473,046 people named Carlos (1,160 women and girls, 471,886 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 265,682 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.8 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 2,250 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 21,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 47,700 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 71,900 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 92,200 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 37,400 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Carlos born?
The states with the most babies named Carlos are Texas, California and Florida, with 47% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 535 | #72 | 2.3× |
| California | 442 | #88 | 2.1× |
| Florida | 164 | #131 | 1.2× |
| Arizona | 130 | #49 | 2.2× |
| New York | 80 | #243 | 1.2× |
| Illinois | 76 | #155 | 0.9× |
| Georgia | 71 | #175 | 0.7× |
| North Carolina | 71 | #178 | 0.6× |
| Colorado | 52 | #135 | 1.0× |
| Washington | 51 | #168 | 0.5× |
Where Carlos is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Carlos is most over-represented in New Mexico: since 1910 it was given 2.5 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Carlos with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 314,608 babies since 1880, Carlos is the most given (98% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,418 of their 2,439 babies (99%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Carlos
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Carlos and names like it
- Compare Carlos and KarlosBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sCarlos peaked in 2001.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Carlos since 1910.
- Spanish namesWiktionary’s origin for Carlos: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2001The year the most babies were named Carlos.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Carlos alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with CMost given first.