Carolina
Carolina was given to 769 girls in 2025, #405 among girls’ names; 48,108 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 42,700 Americans named Carolina and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (89% of everyone recorded); the median is 25 years old and half are between 15 and 36.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Carolina by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Carolina mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Carolina is “a female given name from Latin, Latinate form of Caroline; rare in English.” Its etymology gives the sense “Charles” (Carolus).
From Italian Carolina or its etymon Latin Carolīna, from Carolus (“Charles”) + -īna (feminine diminutive suffix). By surface analysis, Carol (male given name) + -ina (feminine diminutive suffix). Doublet of Caroline. The U.S. states are named for Charles I of England.
/ˌkæɹəˈlaɪnə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Carolina?
#405 among girls’ names, 2025
Carolina rose from #432 in 2015 to #405 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.41 to 0.48 per 1,000.
1,270 babies in 2004, the peak
Carolina peaked in 2004, when 1,270 girls were given it, #254 among girls’ names. The 769 births of 2025 are 61% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 769 | #405 | 0.48 |
| 2024 | 718 | #429 | 0.44 |
| 2023 | 730 | #421 | 0.45 |
| 2022 | 664 | #477 | 0.40 |
| 2021 | 609 | #511 | 0.37 |
| 2020 | 684 | #450 | 0.42 |
| 2019 | 756 | #415 | 0.45 |
| 2018 | 740 | #420 | 0.44 |
| 2017 | 722 | #439 | 0.42 |
| 2016 | 775 | #421 | 0.44 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 732 | #432 | 0.41 |
| 2014 | 788 | #407 | 0.44 |
| 2013 | 712 | #428 | 0.41 |
| 2012 | 723 | #432 | 0.41 |
| 2011 | 729 | #430 | 0.41 |
| 2010 | 822 | #389 | 0.46 |
| 2009 | 828 | #387 | 0.45 |
| 2008 | 925 | #357 | 0.49 |
| 2007 | 1,020 | #329 | 0.53 |
| 2006 | 1,196 | #280 | 0.63 |
| 2005 | 1,133 | #291 | 0.61 |
| 2004 | 1,270 | #254 | 0.69 |
| 2003 | 1,216 | #262 | 0.67 |
| 2002 | 1,074 | #289 | 0.60 |
| 2001 | 1,207 | #265 | 0.67 |
| 2000 | 1,204 | #267 | 0.66 |
| 1999 | 1,036 | #298 | 0.58 |
| 1998 | 1,011 | #299 | 0.57 |
| 1997 | 1,073 | #272 | 0.62 |
| 1996 | 1,054 | #275 | 0.60 |
| 1995 | 989 | #279 | 0.56 |
| 1994 | 1,049 | #268 | 0.59 |
| 1993 | 949 | #292 | 0.52 |
| 1992 | 917 | #304 | 0.50 |
| 1991 | 860 | #314 | 0.46 |
| 1990 | 910 | #302 | 0.48 |
| 1989 | 794 | #320 | 0.43 |
| 1988 | 524 | #434 | 0.29 |
| 1987 | 481 | #458 | 0.28 |
| 1986 | 466 | #461 | 0.27 |
| 1985 | 404 | #504 | 0.23 |
| 1984 | 377 | #515 | 0.22 |
| 1983 | 422 | #473 | 0.25 |
| 1982 | 398 | #507 | 0.24 |
| 1981 | 435 | #484 | 0.26 |
| 1980 | 455 | #467 | 0.27 |
| 1979 | 436 | #463 | 0.27 |
| 1978 | 399 | #486 | 0.26 |
| 1977 | 269 | #624 | 0.18 |
| 1976 | 248 | #627 | 0.17 |
| 1975 | 247 | #634 | 0.17 |
| 1974 | 199 | #722 | 0.14 |
| 1973 | 227 | #655 | 0.16 |
| 1972 | 166 | #813 | 0.11 |
| 1971 | 189 | #769 | 0.11 |
| 1970 | 213 | #718 | 0.12 |
| 1969 | 173 | #776 | 0.10 |
| 1968 | 185 | #717 | 0.11 |
| 1967 | 161 | #780 | 0.10 |
| 1966 | 193 | #705 | 0.11 |
| 1965 | 194 | #705 | 0.11 |
| 1964 | 227 | #677 | 0.12 |
| 1963 | 173 | #787 | 0.09 |
| 1962 | 172 | #795 | 0.09 |
| 1961 | 166 | #815 | 0.08 |
| 1960 | 143 | #865 | 0.07 |
| 1959 | 101 | #1,060 | 0.05 |
| 1958 | 105 | #1,011 | 0.05 |
| 1957 | 127 | #902 | 0.06 |
| 1956 | 107 | #978 | 0.05 |
| 1955 | 103 | #983 | 0.05 |
| 1954 | 109 | #921 | 0.06 |
| 1953 | 126 | #825 | 0.07 |
| 1952 | 108 | #887 | 0.06 |
| 1951 | 113 | #839 | 0.06 |
| 1950 | 104 | #868 | 0.06 |
| 1949 | 115 | #812 | 0.07 |
| 1948 | 114 | #809 | 0.07 |
| 1947 | 128 | #758 | 0.07 |
| 1946 | 119 | #750 | 0.08 |
| 1945 | 114 | #697 | 0.09 |
| 1944 | 124 | #664 | 0.09 |
| 1943 | 131 | #663 | 0.09 |
| 1942 | 81 | #853 | 0.06 |
| 1941 | 98 | #707 | 0.08 |
| 1940 | 78 | #803 | 0.07 |
| 1939 | 95 | #698 | 0.09 |
| 1938 | 101 | #682 | 0.09 |
| 1937 | 107 | #658 | 0.10 |
| 1936 | 94 | #686 | 0.09 |
| 1935 | 97 | #675 | 0.09 |
| 1934 | 104 | #656 | 0.10 |
| 1933 | 117 | #598 | 0.12 |
| 1932 | 112 | #633 | 0.10 |
| 1931 | 110 | #632 | 0.10 |
| 1930 | 132 | #600 | 0.12 |
| 1929 | 153 | #551 | 0.14 |
| 1928 | 145 | #587 | 0.13 |
| 1927 | 125 | #643 | 0.10 |
| 1926 | 120 | #660 | 0.10 |
| 1925 | 145 | #602 | 0.12 |
| 1924 | 144 | #626 | 0.12 |
| 1923 | 128 | #654 | 0.11 |
| 1922 | 118 | #672 | 0.10 |
| 1921 | 137 | #629 | 0.11 |
| 1920 | 132 | #623 | 0.11 |
| 1919 | 109 | #666 | 0.10 |
| 1918 | 98 | #725 | 0.08 |
| 1917 | 102 | #677 | 0.09 |
| 1916 | 111 | #642 | 0.11 |
| 1915 | 100 | #662 | 0.10 |
| 1914 | 77 | #661 | 0.10 |
| 1913 | 58 | #679 | 0.09 |
| 1912 | 63 | #621 | 0.11 |
| 1911 | 56 | #573 | 0.13 |
| 1910 | 43 | #646 | 0.11 |
| 1909 | 39 | #624 | 0.11 |
| 1908 | 45 | #558 | 0.13 |
| 1907 | 33 | #654 | 0.10 |
| 1906 | 44 | #520 | 0.15 |
| 1905 | 30 | #643 | 0.10 |
| 1904 | 44 | #494 | 0.16 |
| 1903 | 32 | #575 | 0.12 |
| 1902 | 31 | #594 | 0.12 |
| 1901 | 37 | #500 | 0.15 |
| 1900 | 40 | #533 | 0.13 |
| 1899 | 15 | #844 | 0.06 |
| 1898 | 24 | #666 | 0.09 |
| 1897 | 17 | #763 | 0.07 |
| 1896 | 28 | #578 | 0.12 |
| 1895 | 35 | #493 | 0.15 |
| 1894 | 34 | #487 | 0.15 |
| 1893 | 24 | #576 | 0.11 |
| 1892 | 28 | #510 | 0.13 |
| 1891 | 21 | #574 | 0.11 |
| 1890 | 23 | #549 | 0.12 |
| 1889 | 27 | #477 | 0.15 |
| 1888 | 24 | #513 | 0.13 |
| 1887 | 19 | #514 | 0.13 |
| 1886 | 25 | #432 | 0.17 |
| 1885 | 18 | #504 | 0.14 |
| 1884 | 13 | #588 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 20 | #423 | 0.18 |
| 1882 | 10 | #601 | 0.09 |
| 1881 | 10 | #544 | 0.11 |
| 1880 | 13 | #470 | 0.14 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Carolina a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Carolina has been given almost only to girls: 137 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Carolina: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Carolina, and how old are they?
42,700 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 89% of the 48,108 Americans ever recorded as Carolina. The median Carolina alive today is 25 years old; half are between 15 and 36.
The 2020 Census counted 69,296 people named Carolina (69,163 women and girls, 133 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 39,490 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 | 568 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,930 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,710 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 10,800 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 16,300 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 9,340 |
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 Carolina born?
The states with the most babies named Carolina are Texas, California and Florida, with 53% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 196 | #167 | 2.7× |
| California | 137 | #243 | 2.1× |
| Florida | 59 | #313 | 1.6× |
| Illinois | 33 | #326 | 0.9× |
| North Carolina | 30 | #360 | 0.9× |
| Georgia | 25 | #456 | 0.6× |
| New York | 24 | #682 | 0.8× |
| Arizona | 23 | #308 | 1.6× |
| New Jersey | 18 | #429 | 0.7× |
| Washington | 18 | #394 | 0.4× |
Where Carolina is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Carolina is most over-represented in Texas: since 1910 it was given 2.7 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 girls’ 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 Carolina 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 315,223 babies since 1880, Carolina is the second most given (15% of them). In 2025 it was given to 769 of their 3,734 babies (21%), again the second 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 Carolina
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 Carolina and names like it
- Compare Carolina and CarolineBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sCarolina peaked in 2004.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Carolina since 1910.
- The top names of 2004The year the most babies were named Carolina.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Carolina alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with CMost given first.