Karol
Karol was given to 45 girls in 2025, #3,425 among girls’ names; 11,131 Americans have been recorded with it since 1911 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 8,620 Americans named Karol and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (77% of everyone recorded); the median is 60 years old and half are between 21 and 71.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Karol by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Karol mean?
Wiktionary, Polish section
Karol is “a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Charles”
Learned borrowing from Latin Carolus. Doublet of król.
/ˈka.rɔl/
Meaning: Wiktionary, Polish section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Karol?
#3,425 among girls’ names, 2025
Karol fell from #2,700 in 2015 to #3,425 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 37.0 to 28.0 per million.
448 babies in 2005, the peak
Karol peaked in 2005, when 448 babies were given it (316 girls, #818 among girls’ names). The 45 births of 2025 are 10% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 45 | #3,425 | under 5 | |
| 2024 | 41 | #3,723 | under 5 | |
| 2023 | 61 | #2,800 | 6 | #11,530 |
| 2022 | 59 | #2,878 | under 5 | |
| 2021 | 52 | #3,138 | 10 | #7,860 |
| 2020 | 55 | #2,946 | 11 | #7,254 |
| 2019 | 72 | #2,469 | 5 | #13,136 |
| 2018 | 44 | #3,534 | 8 | #9,224 |
| 2017 | 36 | #4,107 | 14 | #6,186 |
| 2016 | 43 | #3,620 | 19 | #5,041 |
Every recorded year (113)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 66 | #2,700 | 18 | #5,172 |
| 2014 | 77 | #2,381 | 27 | #3,843 |
| 2013 | 66 | #2,673 | 24 | #4,125 |
| 2012 | 132 | #1,635 | 31 | #3,486 |
| 2011 | 100 | #1,979 | 37 | #3,082 |
| 2010 | 78 | #2,416 | 30 | #3,586 |
| 2009 | 97 | #2,096 | 39 | #3,019 |
| 2008 | 87 | #2,258 | 50 | #2,528 |
| 2007 | 149 | #1,543 | 63 | #2,150 |
| 2006 | 137 | #1,578 | 72 | #1,884 |
| 2005 | 316 | #818 | 132 | #1,205 |
| 2004 | 59 | #2,761 | 18 | #4,687 |
| 2003 | 34 | #3,982 | 7 | #9,157 |
| 2002 | 43 | #3,262 | 15 | #5,022 |
| 2001 | 39 | #3,444 | 14 | #5,272 |
| 2000 | 48 | #2,958 | 12 | #5,737 |
| 1999 | 45 | #2,958 | 15 | #4,647 |
| 1998 | 37 | #3,323 | 13 | #5,024 |
| 1997 | 30 | #3,753 | 9 | #6,363 |
| 1996 | 42 | #2,867 | 17 | #3,922 |
| 1995 | 32 | #3,448 | 12 | #4,955 |
| 1994 | 31 | #3,560 | 12 | #4,955 |
| 1993 | 32 | #3,458 | 17 | #3,740 |
| 1992 | 25 | #4,138 | 13 | #4,452 |
| 1991 | 35 | #3,180 | 8 | #6,228 |
| 1990 | 41 | #2,819 | 15 | #3,868 |
| 1989 | 27 | #3,724 | 11 | #4,663 |
| 1988 | 22 | #4,081 | 10 | #4,602 |
| 1987 | 25 | #3,566 | 7 | #5,782 |
| 1986 | 21 | #3,939 | under 5 | |
| 1985 | 15 | #4,953 | 8 | #4,926 |
| 1984 | 21 | #3,792 | 8 | #4,769 |
| 1983 | 32 | #2,746 | 7 | #5,200 |
| 1982 | 19 | #4,089 | 10 | #4,091 |
| 1981 | 22 | #3,668 | under 5 | |
| 1980 | 35 | #2,671 | 5 | #6,759 |
| 1979 | 30 | #2,888 | 13 | #3,259 |
| 1978 | 34 | #2,536 | under 5 | |
| 1977 | 27 | #2,946 | under 5 | |
| 1976 | 35 | #2,356 | under 5 | |
| 1975 | 34 | #2,380 | under 5 | |
| 1974 | 38 | #2,151 | under 5 | |
| 1973 | 54 | #1,674 | 5 | #5,475 |
| 1972 | 54 | #1,660 | under 5 | |
| 1971 | 83 | #1,307 | under 5 | |
| 1970 | 99 | #1,174 | under 5 | |
| 1969 | 110 | #1,044 | 5 | #4,714 |
| 1968 | 126 | #921 | under 5 | |
| 1967 | 139 | #859 | 5 | #4,260 |
| 1966 | 157 | #787 | 5 | #4,245 |
| 1965 | 181 | #741 | under 5 | |
| 1964 | 220 | #696 | 5 | #4,335 |
| 1963 | 190 | #748 | under 5 | |
| 1962 | 203 | #724 | 6 | #3,836 |
| 1961 | 226 | #699 | 6 | #3,843 |
| 1960 | 224 | #679 | under 5 | |
| 1959 | 253 | #626 | 5 | #4,285 |
| 1958 | 256 | #617 | 7 | #3,419 |
| 1957 | 251 | #621 | 6 | #3,772 |
| 1956 | 203 | #675 | 10 | #2,712 |
| 1955 | 214 | #633 | 9 | #2,871 |
| 1954 | 207 | #633 | 7 | #3,305 |
| 1953 | 190 | #650 | 8 | #3,038 |
| 1952 | 236 | #564 | 12 | #2,320 |
| 1951 | 205 | #599 | 9 | #2,770 |
| 1950 | 200 | #596 | 7 | #3,182 |
| 1949 | 184 | #608 | 6 | #3,515 |
| 1948 | 232 | #540 | 7 | #3,167 |
| 1947 | 250 | #529 | 17 | #1,882 |
| 1946 | 216 | #538 | 10 | #2,479 |
| 1945 | 211 | #504 | 12 | #2,063 |
| 1944 | 214 | #493 | 14 | #1,927 |
| 1943 | 184 | #557 | 13 | #2,117 |
| 1942 | 172 | #564 | 12 | #2,206 |
| 1941 | 151 | #568 | 13 | #2,048 |
| 1940 | 137 | #593 | 13 | #2,038 |
| 1939 | 112 | #648 | 17 | #1,680 |
| 1938 | 104 | #675 | 13 | #2,040 |
| 1937 | 86 | #728 | 11 | #2,273 |
| 1936 | 79 | #760 | 10 | #2,372 |
| 1935 | 49 | #988 | 16 | #1,795 |
| 1934 | 52 | #960 | 11 | #2,337 |
| 1933 | 38 | #1,151 | 9 | #2,639 |
| 1932 | 20 | #1,786 | 10 | #2,546 |
| 1931 | 13 | #2,363 | 9 | #2,774 |
| 1930 | 16 | #2,154 | 18 | #1,783 |
| 1929 | 11 | #2,831 | 9 | #2,855 |
| 1928 | 10 | #3,047 | 10 | #2,754 |
| 1927 | 9 | #3,423 | 10 | #2,807 |
| 1926 | 7 | #4,077 | 9 | #3,022 |
| 1925 | 7 | #4,220 | 13 | #2,370 |
| 1924 | 7 | #4,215 | 12 | #2,556 |
| 1923 | 6 | #4,674 | 12 | #2,529 |
| 1922 | under 5 | 8 | #3,396 | |
| 1921 | 8 | #3,845 | 17 | #2,023 |
| 1920 | under 5 | 13 | #2,393 | |
| 1919 | under 5 | 11 | #2,591 | |
| 1918 | 5 | #5,209 | 15 | #2,117 |
| 1917 | under 5 | 20 | #1,671 | |
| 1916 | under 5 | 18 | #1,730 | |
| 1915 | under 5 | 16 | #1,836 | |
| 1914 | under 5 | 9 | #2,364 | |
| 1911 | under 5 | 5 | #1,877 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Karol a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 11,131 Americans recorded as Karol, 87% are girls and 13% boys. In 2025 it went to 45 girls; SSA lists no boys with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Karol: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Karol, and how old are they?
8,620 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 77% of the 11,131 Americans ever recorded as Karol. The median Karol alive today is 60 years old; half are between 21 and 71.
The 2020 Census counted 11,198 people named Karol (9,341 women and girls, 1,857 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 8,964 born in the U.S. The Census count is 25% above 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 | 749 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 3,310 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,160 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 578 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,970 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 853 |
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 Karol born?
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 13 | #1,752 | 1.1× |
| California | 7 | #2,636 | 1.1× |
Where Karol is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Karol is most over-represented in Iowa: since 1911 it was given 1.5 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 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 Karol 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 849,592 babies since 1880, Karol is the second most given (1.3% of them). In 2025 it was given to 45 of their 138 babies (33%), 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 Karol
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 Karol and names like it
- Compare Karol and CarolBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sKarol peaked in 2005.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Karol since 1910.
- Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Karol: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2005The year the most babies were named Karol.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Karol alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with KMost given first.