Top 100 US name Girls' name Peak 2000 247,746 births

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.

1880s37431890s45001900s42761910s105911920s126941930s108441940s116251950s89851960s167731970s122871980s179441990s368272000s418462010s396302020s15181
#92
of 17,661 girls in use

More common than 99.5% of names given to girls today.

2000s
Peak decade

17% of everyone ever named Caroline was born in this single decade.

2000
Single peak year

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' name

Total births

247,746

Since 1880

145 years of records

Peak year

2000

5,022 births that year

Strongest decade: 2000s

Current rank

#92

In the top 100

As of 2024

Active since

1880

Recorded for 145 years

Last year on file: 2024

Caroline popularity over time — girls

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

Top 100 girls' name
Peak year (2000)
5,022
Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
02,0004,0006,000 202420051986196719481929191018911880 306

Caroline popularity over time — boys

309 total births recorded since 1891 (Caroline as boys' name)

Unisex variant — 309 births
010203040 20141999198919821974194219281891 5

Caroline by decade

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

Peak: 2000s
Peak decade
2000s
41,846 births that decade — 17% of Caroline's all-time total
1880s37431890s45001900s42761910s105911920s126941930s108441940s116251950s89851960s167731970s122871980s179441990s368272000s418462010s396302020s15181

Caroline by state

Where Caroline concentrates geographically — total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Caroline
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%
New York share of Caroline's total US births 8.2%
Even split

20,211 of 247,746 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Caroline appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Caroline?
247,746 babies have been named Caroline since 1880. It currently ranks #92 among girls. The peak year was 2000 with 5,022 births.
When was Caroline most popular?
Caroline was most popular in the 2000s decade with 41,846 total births. The single peak year was 2000.
Where is Caroline most popular?
The top states for the name Caroline are New York (20,211 births), California (16,481 births), Texas (15,624 births).
How long has the name Caroline been used?
Caroline has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 145 years of data through 2024.
What names are similar to Caroline?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Carol, Carolyn, Carrie, Carla, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

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.