How rare is the name Carlene?

11,283 people in the United States have the first name Carlene, about 1 in 26,769. It ranks #2,296 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CARLENE

#2,296

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
11,283
About
1 in 26,769
This common or more
79.3%
Who bears it

Of the 11,283 people named Carlene, 70.9% reported their origin as White, 20.2% as Black and 3.1% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Carlene peaked in 1955, when 370 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18952025
Peak year
1955
Births that year
370
In 2025*
5 ▼99%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 15,225 babies have been given the name since 1895. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Carlene by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1940s, when it ranked #790. The largest share of babies named Carlene, 39.5%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1890s#3,9395
1900s#2,90240
1910s#2,075305
1920s#1,453839
1930s#7922,273
1940s#7903,026
1950s#8963,302
1960s#1,1432,389
1970s#1,9241,027
1980s#2,517788
1990s#3,858582
2000s#6,181406
2010s#11,306183
2020s#16,19060
Before 19010%
Greatest Generation 1901–276.1%
Silent Generation 1928–4528.1%
Baby boom 1946–6439.5%
Generation X 1965–8013.7%
Millennials 1981–967.7%
Generation Z 1997–123.7%
2013 and later1.2%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Carlene is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Carlene has been most common in Maine (8.8×), Oklahoma (2.3×), and Vermont (2.2×), and least common in South Carolina (0.24×).

10,248 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Carlene

#2,294 Amit · 11,285#2,294 Ronny · 11,285#2,297 Trinidad · 11,227#2,298 Caryn · 11,223

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Carlene, most common first.

#279 Caroline · 199,035#3,759 Carleen · 5,304#4,774 Carlyn · 3,797#4,891 Carlin · 3,660#5,729 Carolyne · 2,927#5,919 Carline · 2,790#9,110 Carlina · 1,551#11,620 Carlena · 1,097

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