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2025 data, released 8 May 2026

2025 data, released 8 May 2026

Carole

Carole was the 10258th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 9 babies. Its best year was 1942, when it ranked 35th with 8,407 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 29 places. More babies were named Carole in the 1940s than in any other decade.

Meaning (as Carol) short form of Caroline; also male Carolus · English, Germanic, Latin

Rank in 2025
#10,258 girls, up 2,143 places since 2020
Babies in 2025
9girls
Girls and boys
Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
Peak year
19428,407 babies
Total since 1880
110,952babies recorded

What does the name Carole mean?

Carole is a spelling of Carol, pronounced the same way, so it shares Carol's meaning and origin.

As a girls' name Carol is a short form of Caroline, the feminine of Charles, and Wiktionary notes it was associated by folk etymology with the English word carol, a Christmas song. As a boys' name it comes from Latin Carolus (Charles), also used in Romania and Poland. Charles comes from a Germanic word for 'man, free man' (compare Old English ceorl). Carol was very popular for American girls in the 1930s and 1940s.

Carolus (Latin, “Charles”)*karlaz (Proto-Germanic, “man, free man”)

How sure is this? Well established.

Other explanations you may read: From the Christmas carol.

Related names: Caroline, Carole, Carroll, Charles, Karol.

See also: Germanic names.

Sources for this meaning

Carole popularity since 1880

02.5k5k7.5k10k 1900192019401960198020002020
Girls Babies per year, US, from Social Security records. Years with fewer than 5 babies show as zero.

A few boys are given the name too: 264 since 1932.

YearRank (girls)Babies (girls)
2025#10,2589
2020#12,4017
2010#10,57710
2000#4,81624
1990#1,62192
1980#1,177114
1970#480422
1960#2031,689
1950#1402,218
1940#494,790
1930#321425
1920#715103
1910#1,6519
1900——
1890——
1880——

How popular is Carole, counting every spelling?

Carole is a spelling of Carol, a name family that ranked #1,431 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #10,258 for Carole on its own. Together these spellings went to 136 girls in 2025.

SpellingBabies 2025Official rankBabies 2021–2025
Carol82#2,242391
Karol45#3,426258

Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.

How many kids will share the name Carole?

9 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Carole (0.00 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Carole born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 930 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Carole.

Chance of another Carole in a class of 20under 1 in 50US, born 2025

Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.

How old are people named Carole?

About 60,400 people born in the US named Carole are alive today, with a median age of 79; half are between 68 and 84. That makes Carole a name most people associate with older generations.

0–910–1920–2930–3940–4950–5960–6970–7980–8990+
Estimated people alive in the US with the name, by age, mid-2026. The darker bar holds the median age.

Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.

Carole by state

How common Carole was among girls born in each state in 1940–1944, around its peak. It is notably more common than nationally in New Jersey (1.8×), Maryland (1.7×), Pennsylvania (1.7×), New Hampshire (1.6×), Massachusetts (1.6×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina.

Alaska: fewer than 5 a yearAK–Maine: 6.4 per 1,000 babiesME6.4Wisconsin: 5.4 per 1,000 babiesWI5.4Vermont: 6.5 per 1,000 babiesVT6.5New Hampshire: 7.7 per 1,000 babiesNH7.7Washington: 5.6 per 1,000 babiesWA5.6Idaho: 4.4 per 1,000 babiesID4.4Montana: 6.1 per 1,000 babiesMT6.1North Dakota: 5.8 per 1,000 babiesND5.8Minnesota: 6.3 per 1,000 babiesMN6.3Illinois: 7.3 per 1,000 babiesIL7.3Michigan: 7.1 per 1,000 babiesMI7.1New York: 7.2 per 1,000 babiesNY7.2Massachusetts: 7.6 per 1,000 babiesMA7.6Oregon: 5.8 per 1,000 babiesOR5.8Nevada: 5.4 per 1,000 babiesNV5.4Wyoming: 5.2 per 1,000 babiesWY5.2South Dakota: 6.1 per 1,000 babiesSD6.1Iowa: 5.1 per 1,000 babiesIA5.1Indiana: 5.5 per 1,000 babiesIN5.5Ohio: 6.6 per 1,000 babiesOH6.6Pennsylvania: 8.2 per 1,000 babiesPA8.2New Jersey: 8.8 per 1,000 babiesNJ8.8Connecticut: 7.2 per 1,000 babiesCT7.2Rhode Island: 6.4 per 1,000 babiesRI6.4California: 6.5 per 1,000 babiesCA6.5Utah: 5.1 per 1,000 babiesUT5.1Colorado: 4.9 per 1,000 babiesCO4.9Nebraska: 5.3 per 1,000 babiesNE5.3Missouri: 5.0 per 1,000 babiesMO5.0Kentucky: 2.5 per 1,000 babiesKY2.5West Virginia: 3.3 per 1,000 babiesWV3.3Virginia: 2.9 per 1,000 babiesVA2.9Maryland: 8.3 per 1,000 babiesMD8.3Delaware: 7.0 per 1,000 babiesDE7.0Arizona: 3.8 per 1,000 babiesAZ3.8New Mexico: 1.5 per 1,000 babiesNM1.5Kansas: 4.0 per 1,000 babiesKS4.0Arkansas: 1.7 per 1,000 babiesAR1.7Tennessee: 2.1 per 1,000 babiesTN2.1North Carolina: 1.5 per 1,000 babiesNC1.5South Carolina: 1.7 per 1,000 babiesSC1.7District of Columbia: 7.2 per 1,000 babiesDC7.2Oklahoma: 3.1 per 1,000 babiesOK3.1Louisiana: 2.1 per 1,000 babiesLA2.1Mississippi: 0.94 per 1,000 babiesMS0.94Alabama: 1.5 per 1,000 babiesAL1.5Georgia: 2.6 per 1,000 babiesGA2.6Hawaii: 5.6 per 1,000 babiesHI5.6Texas: 2.3 per 1,000 babiesTX2.3Florida: 3.1 per 1,000 babiesFL3.1
Babies per 1,000 of the same sex, Carole, girls, 1940–1944. Darker means more common.

Names with a similar history

These names rose and fell in step with Carole: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Carole, they share its era and feel.

Questions about the name Carole

What does Carole mean?

Carole is a spelling of Carol, which means “short form of Caroline; also male Carolus” (English, Germanic, Latin origin). Certainty: well established.

How popular is the name Carole?

Carole was the 10258th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 9 babies. Its best year was 1942, when it ranked 35th with 8,407 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 29 places. More babies were named Carole in the 1940s than in any other decade.

Is Carole a boy or girl name?

In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Carole in the US.

Where was Carole most popular?

In 1940–1944, Carole was most common in New Jersey (8.81 per 1,000 girls), followed by Maryland and Pennsylvania.