Caroline — #92 US girls' name
247,746 babies named Caroline in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 2000. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 99.5% of names given to girls today.
17% of everyone ever named Caroline was born in this single decade.
5,022 babies were named Caroline in 2000 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Caroline
The Social Security Administration has registered 247,746 babies named Caroline between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Caroline currently holds the #92 rank among girls for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 2000, when 5,022 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Caroline performed strongest in the 2000s, accumulating 41,846 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Caroline shows notable generational variation in parental adoption. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in New York, which accounts for 20,211 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by California and Texas. In total, SSA state-level files list Caroline in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Caroline 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 247,746 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.
Caroline at a glance
Top 100 girls' namePeak year
Current rank
Active since
Caroline popularity over time — girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880
- Peak year (2000)
- 5,022
- Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
Currently ranks #92 among girls.
247,746 total births across 145 years of SSA records. Peaked in 2000 with 5,022 births in a single year.
Caroline popularity over time — boys
309 total births recorded since 1891 (Caroline as boys' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The boys' variant of Caroline accounts for 0% of total recorded use across both genders.
Caroline by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 2000s
- 41,846 births that decade — 17% of Caroline's all-time total
Caroline decade highlights
- Peak decade 41,846 births
- Runner-up 39,630 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
2000s was Caroline's strongest decade
41,846 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 17% of all-time use.
Caroline by state
Where Caroline concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | New York | | 20,211 | 8.2% |
| #2 | California | | 16,481 | 6.7% |
| #3 | Texas | | 15,624 | 6.3% |
| #4 | Pennsylvania | | 13,294 | 5.4% |
| #5 | North Carolina | | 10,830 | 4.4% |
| #6 | Illinois | | 10,614 | 4.3% |
| #7 | Massachusetts | | 9,905 | 4.0% |
| #8 | Georgia | | 9,413 | 3.8% |
20,211 of 247,746 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- New York 8.2% of nationwide
- California 6.7% of nationwide
- Texas 6.3% of nationwide
- Pennsylvania 5.4% of nationwide
- North Carolina 4.4% of nationwide
Recorded in 51 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
New York accounts for 8.2% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Caroline appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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Keep exploring Caroline
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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.