Caroline
Caroline was given to 2,646 girls in 2025, #96 among girls’ names; 250,719 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 195,000 Americans named Caroline and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (78% of everyone recorded); the median is 26 years old and half are between 14 and 42.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Caroline by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Caroline mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Caroline is “a female given name from the Germanic languages.” Its etymology gives the sense “Charles” (Carolus).
Borrowed in the 17th century from French Caroline, from Italian Carolina or its etymon Latin Carolīna, from Latin Carolus (“Charles”), from Middle High German Karl, + -īna (feminine diminutive suffix). By surface analysis, Carol (male given name) + -ine (feminine diminutive suffix). Doublet of Carolina.
/ˈkɛɹ.əˌlaɪn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Caroline?
#96 among girls’ names, 2025
Caroline fell from #62 in 2015 to #96 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 2.4 to 1.6 per 1,000.
5,029 babies in 2000, the peak
Caroline peaked in 2000, when 5,029 babies were given it (5,022 girls, #65 among girls’ names). The 2,646 births of 2025 are 53% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,646 | #96 | 1.6 |
| 2024 | 2,730 | #92 | 1.7 |
| 2023 | 2,868 | #83 | 1.8 |
| 2022 | 3,030 | #77 | 1.8 |
| 2021 | 3,204 | #80 | 2.0 |
| 2020 | 3,364 | #71 | 2.1 |
| 2019 | 3,920 | #61 | 2.3 |
| 2018 | 4,167 | #56 | 2.4 |
| 2017 | 4,294 | #55 | 2.5 |
| 2016 | 4,437 | #56 | 2.5 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 4,333 | #62 | 2.4 |
| 2014 | 4,348 | #59 | 2.4 |
| 2013 | 3,983 | #63 | 2.3 |
| 2012 | 3,421 | #80 | 1.9 |
| 2011 | 3,370 | #87 | 1.9 |
| 2010 | 3,360 | #88 | 1.9 |
| 2009 | 3,624 | #87 | 2.0 |
| 2008 | 3,545 | #94 | 1.9 |
| 2007 | 3,409 | #99 | 1.8 |
| 2006 | 3,791 | #89 | 2.0 |
| 2005 | 3,974 | #83 | 2.2 |
| 2004 | 4,379 | #74 | 2.4 |
| 2003 | 4,585 | #68 | 2.5 |
| 2002 | 4,657 | #67 | 2.6 |
| 2001 | 4,864 | #62 | 2.7 |
| 2000 | 5,022 | #65 | 2.8 |
| 1999 | 4,474 | #71 | 2.5 |
| 1998 | 4,276 | #75 | 2.4 |
| 1997 | 4,439 | #75 | 2.6 |
| 1996 | 4,466 | #78 | 2.5 |
| 1995 | 3,799 | #92 | 2.2 |
| 1994 | 3,452 | #94 | 1.9 |
| 1993 | 3,083 | #105 | 1.7 |
| 1992 | 3,176 | #105 | 1.7 |
| 1991 | 2,843 | #116 | 1.5 |
| 1990 | 2,819 | #116 | 1.5 |
| 1989 | 2,661 | #113 | 1.4 |
| 1988 | 2,326 | #122 | 1.3 |
| 1987 | 2,047 | #135 | 1.2 |
| 1986 | 1,802 | #157 | 1.1 |
| 1985 | 1,751 | #164 | 1.0 |
| 1984 | 1,633 | #167 | 1.0 |
| 1983 | 1,482 | #183 | 0.89 |
| 1982 | 1,537 | #178 | 0.91 |
| 1981 | 1,391 | #193 | 0.83 |
| 1980 | 1,313 | #200 | 0.79 |
| 1979 | 1,354 | #198 | 0.84 |
| 1978 | 1,308 | #201 | 0.85 |
| 1977 | 1,204 | #210 | 0.79 |
| 1976 | 1,224 | #197 | 0.84 |
| 1975 | 1,232 | #198 | 0.85 |
| 1974 | 1,196 | #212 | 0.81 |
| 1973 | 1,112 | #229 | 0.76 |
| 1972 | 1,071 | #251 | 0.70 |
| 1971 | 1,215 | #241 | 0.73 |
| 1970 | 1,371 | #229 | 0.78 |
| 1969 | 1,352 | #224 | 0.80 |
| 1968 | 1,411 | #215 | 0.86 |
| 1967 | 1,449 | #210 | 0.88 |
| 1966 | 1,551 | #202 | 0.92 |
| 1965 | 1,815 | #187 | 1.0 |
| 1964 | 2,106 | #179 | 1.1 |
| 1963 | 1,689 | #208 | 0.88 |
| 1962 | 1,989 | #186 | 1.0 |
| 1961 | 2,198 | #176 | 1.1 |
| 1960 | 1,210 | #254 | 0.60 |
| 1959 | 1,044 | #274 | 0.52 |
| 1958 | 990 | #282 | 0.49 |
| 1957 | 1,137 | #253 | 0.56 |
| 1956 | 702 | #329 | 0.35 |
| 1955 | 742 | #315 | 0.38 |
| 1954 | 771 | #302 | 0.40 |
| 1953 | 885 | #280 | 0.47 |
| 1952 | 916 | #263 | 0.49 |
| 1951 | 919 | #254 | 0.51 |
| 1950 | 879 | #257 | 0.51 |
| 1949 | 1,001 | #235 | 0.59 |
| 1948 | 1,080 | #226 | 0.64 |
| 1947 | 1,150 | #220 | 0.65 |
| 1946 | 1,091 | #214 | 0.69 |
| 1945 | 1,013 | #197 | 0.78 |
| 1944 | 1,213 | #178 | 0.91 |
| 1943 | 1,353 | #171 | 1.0 |
| 1942 | 1,390 | #168 | 1.0 |
| 1941 | 1,173 | #174 | 1.0 |
| 1940 | 1,161 | #172 | 1.0 |
| 1939 | 1,005 | #186 | 0.92 |
| 1938 | 1,115 | #181 | 1.0 |
| 1937 | 1,094 | #181 | 1.0 |
| 1936 | 1,075 | #177 | 1.0 |
| 1935 | 1,048 | #178 | 1.0 |
| 1934 | 1,069 | #174 | 1.0 |
| 1933 | 1,050 | #173 | 1.0 |
| 1932 | 1,103 | #174 | 1.0 |
| 1931 | 1,125 | #165 | 1.1 |
| 1930 | 1,160 | #172 | 1.0 |
| 1929 | 1,192 | #171 | 1.1 |
| 1928 | 1,189 | #175 | 1.0 |
| 1927 | 1,167 | #179 | 1.0 |
| 1926 | 1,217 | #174 | 1.0 |
| 1925 | 1,193 | #185 | 1.0 |
| 1924 | 1,302 | #175 | 1.0 |
| 1923 | 1,304 | #173 | 1.1 |
| 1922 | 1,269 | #176 | 1.1 |
| 1921 | 1,425 | #162 | 1.2 |
| 1920 | 1,436 | #159 | 1.2 |
| 1919 | 1,296 | #169 | 1.1 |
| 1918 | 1,458 | #154 | 1.3 |
| 1917 | 1,368 | #152 | 1.3 |
| 1916 | 1,385 | #144 | 1.3 |
| 1915 | 1,402 | #137 | 1.4 |
| 1914 | 989 | #148 | 1.3 |
| 1913 | 805 | #149 | 1.3 |
| 1912 | 785 | #139 | 1.4 |
| 1911 | 550 | #146 | 1.3 |
| 1910 | 553 | #146 | 1.4 |
| 1909 | 443 | #157 | 1.3 |
| 1908 | 449 | #150 | 1.3 |
| 1907 | 437 | #151 | 1.4 |
| 1906 | 409 | #144 | 1.4 |
| 1905 | 407 | #146 | 1.4 |
| 1904 | 429 | #136 | 1.6 |
| 1903 | 389 | #141 | 1.5 |
| 1902 | 452 | #126 | 1.7 |
| 1901 | 406 | #125 | 1.7 |
| 1900 | 455 | #135 | 1.5 |
| 1899 | 393 | #124 | 1.7 |
| 1898 | 441 | #122 | 1.7 |
| 1897 | 456 | #112 | 1.9 |
| 1896 | 437 | #110 | 1.8 |
| 1895 | 484 | #105 | 2.1 |
| 1894 | 473 | #103 | 2.1 |
| 1893 | 483 | #99 | 2.3 |
| 1892 | 476 | #100 | 2.2 |
| 1891 | 402 | #100 | 2.2 |
| 1890 | 455 | #94 | 2.4 |
| 1889 | 491 | #84 | 2.8 |
| 1888 | 458 | #89 | 2.6 |
| 1887 | 398 | #84 | 2.7 |
| 1886 | 370 | #92 | 2.6 |
| 1885 | 399 | #78 | 3.0 |
| 1884 | 380 | #78 | 2.9 |
| 1883 | 321 | #86 | 2.9 |
| 1882 | 304 | #85 | 2.8 |
| 1881 | 316 | #73 | 3.4 |
| 1880 | 306 | #75 | 3.4 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Caroline a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Caroline has been given almost only to girls: 309 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Caroline: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Caroline, and how old are they?
195,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 78% of the 250,719 Americans ever recorded as Caroline. The median Caroline alive today is 26 years old; half are between 14 and 42.
The 2020 Census counted 199,035 people named Caroline (198,800 women and girls, 235 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 184,474 born in the U.S. The Census count is 8% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 6,160 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 17,800 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 19,600 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 39,400 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 64,500 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 47,000 |
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 Caroline born?
The states with the most babies named Caroline are Texas, North Carolina and Tennessee, with 23% of its births recorded by state in 2025; Tennessee is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 296 | #95 | 0.8× |
| North Carolina | 162 | #48 | 1.5× |
| Tennessee | 139 | #31 | 1.1× |
| Georgia | 135 | #50 | 1.3× |
| Florida | 124 | #143 | 0.8× |
| Alabama | 103 | #20 | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 102 | #95 | 0.9× |
| California | 99 | #328 | 0.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 99 | #98 | 1.1× |
| Virginia | 99 | #58 | 1.4× |
Where Caroline is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Caroline is most over-represented in District of Columbia: since 1910 it was given 1.8 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 Caroline 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 329,022 babies since 1880, Caroline is the most given (76% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,646 of their 3,731 babies (71%), 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 Caroline
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 Caroline and names like it
- Compare Caroline and CarolinaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sCaroline peaked in 2000.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Caroline since 1910.
- Germanic namesWiktionary’s origin for Caroline: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2000The year the most babies were named Caroline.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Caroline alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with CMost given first.