How Many People Are Named Carolyn?
people named Carolyn are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 948 people in the US has this name
Based on 558,397 babies named Carolyn in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
⭐ Uncommon
Peak Year
20,788 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Variant of CAROLINE.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Same Sound, Other Spellings
These names are pronounced like Carolyn in English. Counting Carolyn and these spellings together, about 560,320 people alive in the US have the name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Almost all of the babies given the name Carolyn (99.8%) were girls.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Carolyn alive today is about 67 years old, and 76% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 60 and 78 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Carolyn first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1947, to 20,788 babies. In 2025, 185 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Carolyn reached #10 among girls' names in 1942, and was in the top 10 in 1942. In 2025 it ranked #1,222.
| Girls | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #1,222 |
| Best rank | #10 (1942) |
| Years in the top 10 | 1 |
| Years in the top 100 | 44 (1927 to 1970) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #12 in the 1940s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Carolyn alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Carolyn were born in Texas than in any other state: about 23,796 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Carolyn was given 1.7 times as often in Arkansas, 1.6 times in North Carolina and 1.6 times in Tennessee.
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