ninan.org

Carol

Girls' name · Mid-century

Living in the US
~550,100 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#2,239 among girls
Births in 2025
82 825,584 since 1880
Typical age
73 years, median

Carol popularity over time

Carol rank by birth year, 1880–2025Carol ranked #679 in 1880 and #2,239 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #4, in 1941.#10#100#1,000#2,239best #4 in 194118901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1946 is the peak year for Carol, with 34,458 births. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. Carol has spent 44 years inside the national top 100.

The 2025 position is #2,239, on 82 births. Over ten years the count has fallen 31%. It climbed 398 places against the previous year.

Babies named Carol per yearPeaks at 34,458 births in 1946.34,458 in 1946018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Carol?

Roughly 550,100 Carols are alive in the US right now. SSA has recorded 825,584 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Carol?

Half of living Carols are older than 73, half younger. More of them were born in the 1940s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Carol a mid-century name.

Your Carol

Ages of living people named CarolHalf of living Carols are older than 73 and half younger.median 73020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Carol is most common

California uses the name 1.4× as often as the country as a whole.

Where Carol is used more than average1 states use the name Carol more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.4× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Carol is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
California 149 1.4×

Carol in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Carol ranked #2,133 in 2025 on 11 births.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Carol comes from

Shortened from Caroline. Associated by folk etymology with the English noun carol.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Carol

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Carol I of Romania king of Romania from 1881 to 1914 1839–1914 58
Carol Burnett American actress, comedian and singer 1933 52
Carol II of Romania king of Romania from 1930 to 1940 1893–1953 50
Carol Channing American actress 1921–2019 47
Carol Reed English film director 1906–1976 46
Carol Kane American actress 1952 42
Carol Ann Duffy Scottish poet and playwright 1955 38
Carol Gilligan American feminist, ethicist, and psychologist 1936 35
Photo credits (8)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Carol

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/carol.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).