Meaning not yet researched.
Carol: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 82 in 2025. Its best rank was #4 in 1941.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #4 in 1941; #2,242 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Carol in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#2,242 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1941, at #4.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Carol: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 82 girls in 2025. Peak: #4 in 1941 · most girls in one year: 34,284 (1946).
In 2025, 82 US girls were named Carol, making it the 2,242nd most common girls’ name of the year, up 400 places from #2,642 in 2024. That is 16 more than the 66 girls named Carol in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #4, reached in 1941. The most girls given the name in a single year was 34,284, in 1946. For comparison, it was #1,770 in 2015 and #9 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Carol in 145 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1880 with 7 babies. In all, 825,584 US babies have been given the name, 99% of them girls and 1.0% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1940s, with 294,291 babies named Carol.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 960 US girls were named Carol; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 129. In 2025 that was about 1 in 19,601 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Carol ranked highest in North Carolina in 2025, at #1,498 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Carla (150,815 babies since 1880), Carole (110,952 babies since 1880), Karla (91,895 babies since 1880) and Caroll (2,078 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Carola, Karole and Carrel are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to Carolann, Carole, Caroline, Carri, Carrie and Cassie.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in English. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Carola (1,170), Karole (947), Carrel (406), Caro (274), Caryle (230), Carolle (188), Caral (70), Karrol (59), Karil (55), Carrole (51), Caryll (47), Carryl (28), and more.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
US girls. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five girls got the name, so 46 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 5 | #1,498 | — |
| Florida | 7 | #1,733 | #2,148 |
| New York | 6 | #1,878 | #1,402 |
| California | 10 | #1,980 | #1,838 |
| Texas | 10 | #2,070 | #2,082 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 82 | #2,242 | — | — |
| 2024 | 66 | #2,642 | — | — |
| 2023 | 74 | #2,424 | — | — |
| 2022 | 82 | #2,278 | — | — |
| 2021 | 87 | #2,156 | — | — |
| 2020 | 100 | #1,911 | — | — |
| 2019 | 112 | #1,818 | — | — |
| 2018 | 114 | #1,790 | — | — |
| 2017 | 114 | #1,817 | — | — |
| 2016 | 129 | #1,662 | — | — |
| 2015 | 118 | #1,770 | — | — |
| 2014 | 150 | #1,489 | — | — |
| 2013 | 133 | #1,617 | — | — |
| 2012 | 168 | #1,386 | — | — |
| 2011 | 191 | #1,251 | — | — |
| 2010 | 150 | #1,495 | — | — |
| 2009 | 189 | #1,285 | 5 | #12,777 |
| 2008 | 228 | #1,130 | — | — |
| 2007 | 250 | #1,048 | 9 | #8,288 |
| 2006 | 270 | #972 | 5 | #12,331 |
| 2005 | 351 | #758 | 14 | #5,615 |
| 2004 | 289 | #851 | — | — |
| 2003 | 276 | #871 | — | — |
| 2002 | 274 | #845 | — | — |
| 2001 | 278 | #831 | — | — |
| 2000 | 322 | #719 | — | — |
| 1999 | 302 | #741 | 5 | #10,129 |
| 1998 | 351 | #658 | — | — |
| 1997 | 374 | #607 | — | — |
| 1996 | 412 | #565 | — | — |
| 1995 | 460 | #525 | — | — |
| 1994 | 501 | #495 | 12 | #4,836 |
| 1993 | 506 | #494 | 7 | #6,920 |
| 1992 | 612 | #413 | 11 | #4,921 |
| 1991 | 672 | #384 | 10 | #5,143 |
| 1990 | 762 | #349 | 15 | #3,802 |
| 1989 | 752 | #338 | 23 | #2,703 |
| 1988 | 741 | #334 | 19 | #2,869 |
| 1987 | 763 | #318 | 15 | #3,217 |
| 1986 | 770 | #310 | 22 | #2,437 |
| 1985 | 841 | #292 | 13 | #3,435 |
| 1984 | 906 | #268 | 17 | #2,714 |
| 1983 | 942 | #251 | 14 | #3,090 |
| 1982 | 944 | #263 | 14 | #3,126 |
| 1981 | 1,044 | #238 | 15 | #2,916 |
| 1980 | 1,105 | #232 | 21 | #2,376 |
| 1979 | 1,163 | #225 | 17 | #2,683 |
| 1978 | 1,264 | #204 | 16 | #2,685 |
| 1977 | 1,348 | #198 | 17 | #2,571 |
| 1976 | 1,492 | #171 | 16 | #2,620 |
| 1975 | 1,784 | #150 | 14 | #2,774 |
| 1974 | 2,038 | #139 | 22 | #1,996 |
| 1973 | 2,457 | #121 | 23 | #1,882 |
| 1972 | 3,010 | #109 | 31 | #1,538 |
| 1971 | 3,857 | #92 | 30 | #1,601 |
| 1970 | 5,064 | #71 | 26 | #1,708 |
| 1969 | 6,138 | #56 | 42 | #1,222 |
| 1968 | 7,078 | #49 | 42 | #1,167 |
| 1967 | 7,491 | #47 | 43 | #1,135 |
| 1966 | 8,259 | #48 | 43 | #1,134 |
| 1965 | 10,097 | #42 | 56 | #988 |
| 1964 | 12,125 | #36 | 53 | #1,037 |
| 1963 | 12,492 | #33 | 54 | #1,029 |
| 1962 | 14,523 | #28 | 74 | #889 |
| 1961 | 16,667 | #24 | 79 | #861 |
| 1960 | 17,463 | #23 | 85 | #825 |
| 1959 | 18,140 | #22 | 76 | #877 |
| 1958 | 19,683 | #20 | 70 | #902 |
| 1957 | 21,898 | #18 | 87 | #805 |
| 1956 | 21,408 | #16 | 92 | #770 |
| 1955 | 22,046 | #15 | 78 | #829 |
| 1954 | 22,247 | #15 | 88 | #758 |
| 1953 | 22,290 | #16 | 80 | #798 |
| 1952 | 24,000 | #12 | 104 | #681 |
| 1951 | 24,781 | #11 | 110 | #667 |
| 1950 | 26,163 | #9 | 129 | #602 |
| 1949 | 26,780 | #8 | 132 | #590 |
| 1948 | 28,977 | #8 | 126 | #602 |
| 1947 | 33,543 | #6 | 163 | #529 |
| 1946 | 34,284 | #5 | 174 | #485 |
| 1945 | 30,389 | #5 | 192 | #430 |
| 1944 | 30,456 | #5 | 177 | #456 |
| 1943 | 31,686 | #5 | 231 | #406 |
| 1942 | 30,272 | #5 | 267 | #373 |
| 1941 | 24,187 | #4 | 243 | #372 |
| 1940 | 21,759 | #6 | 253 | #361 |
| 1939 | 20,166 | #6 | 258 | #347 |
| 1938 | 19,421 | #6 | 269 | #338 |
| 1937 | 17,336 | #6 | 278 | #324 |
| 1936 | 14,520 | #10 | 265 | #337 |
| 1935 | 11,735 | #11 | 206 | #379 |
| 1934 | 10,273 | #14 | 252 | #346 |
| 1933 | 8,220 | #20 | 269 | #327 |
| 1932 | 6,570 | #32 | 218 | #380 |
| 1931 | 4,892 | #46 | 246 | #353 |
| 1930 | 4,598 | #54 | 220 | #384 |
| 1929 | 4,279 | #63 | 210 | #402 |
| 1928 | 3,349 | #77 | 195 | #426 |
| 1927 | 2,643 | #106 | 228 | #397 |
| 1926 | 2,427 | #113 | 170 | #461 |
| 1925 | 2,286 | #119 | 146 | #505 |
| 1924 | 2,094 | #132 | 132 | #548 |
| 1923 | 1,864 | #139 | 105 | #620 |
| 1922 | 1,522 | #158 | 133 | #544 |
| 1921 | 1,374 | #166 | 124 | #568 |
| 1920 | 1,140 | #182 | 107 | #609 |
| 1919 | 932 | #200 | 75 | #739 |
| 1918 | 1,011 | #196 | 98 | #620 |
| 1917 | 798 | #215 | 97 | #604 |
| 1916 | 789 | #215 | 98 | #586 |
| 1915 | 596 | #243 | 78 | #657 |
| 1914 | 437 | #251 | 54 | #701 |
| 1913 | 332 | #254 | 34 | #820 |
| 1912 | 324 | #247 | 32 | #766 |
| 1911 | 181 | #291 | 12 | #993 |
| 1910 | 185 | #285 | 14 | #824 |
| 1909 | 142 | #302 | 19 | #619 |
| 1908 | 146 | #294 | 7 | #1,131 |
| 1907 | 112 | #329 | 11 | #826 |
| 1906 | 97 | #339 | 7 | #1,024 |
| 1905 | 91 | #351 | 6 | #1,119 |
| 1904 | 98 | #330 | — | — |
| 1903 | 67 | #389 | 10 | #743 |
| 1902 | 80 | #357 | 6 | #1,030 |
| 1901 | 61 | #378 | — | — |
| 1900 | 70 | #397 | 6 | #1,187 |
| 1899 | 65 | #361 | — | — |
| 1898 | 63 | #391 | 5 | #1,148 |
| 1897 | 42 | #455 | 7 | #860 |
| 1896 | 36 | #490 | — | — |
| 1895 | 48 | #404 | 6 | #996 |
| 1894 | 31 | #519 | — | — |
| 1893 | 30 | #503 | — | — |
| 1892 | 29 | #504 | 6 | #975 |
| 1891 | 24 | #526 | 6 | #861 |
| 1890 | 26 | #510 | 5 | #1,026 |
| 1889 | 30 | #443 | — | — |
| 1888 | 20 | #561 | — | — |
| 1887 | 15 | #590 | — | — |
| 1886 | 13 | #638 | — | — |
| 1885 | 11 | #661 | — | — |
| 1884 | 8 | #800 | 5 | #994 |
| 1882 | 6 | #827 | — | — |
| 1881 | 10 | #543 | — | — |
| 1880 | 7 | #685 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).