first name
CAROL
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 614,466 people named Carol, 88.8% reported their origin as White, 5.1% as Black and 2.8% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are female (99.6%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
What should your name go on next?
Thanks! We'll make the most-wanted one next.
Carol peaked in 1946, when 34,458 babies got the name.
At least 825,584 babies have been given the name since 1880. 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.
Carol by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1940s, when it ranked #14. The largest share of babies named Carol, 51%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).
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 Carol is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Carol has been most common in South Dakota (1.8×), North Dakota (1.8×), and Rhode Island (1.7×), and least common in Nevada (0.31×).
817,966 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 Carol
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Carol, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Carol ranks #18,459 of 156,621, with 1,482 people. See Carol as a last name
Compare
🔎 CAROL 🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 492 Americans More common than 75.2% of us Peaked in 1946 with 34,458 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/carol/