Carole
The Germanic karl, “free man”: Carl directly, Carol as the English feminine of Charles through Latin Carolus.
Popularity, 1880–2025
Carole first shows up in the national records in 1901. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American girls in every year from 1934 to 1946. Its biggest year was 1942, when 8,407 newborn girls received the name, ranking it No. 35 nationally. All told, 110,952 Americans have been given the name since 1880.
Related names
Other spellings on record: Carol (825,584), Carl (508,017), Karl (101,751), Carroll (41,347), Karol (11,131), Carrol (10,319) (total births since 1880)
Other names that share a story: Charles, Carol, Carl
Explore Carole interactively →By the decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 18 | No. 1152 |
| 1910s | 492 | No. 743 |
| 1920s | 2,004 | No. 373 |
| 1930s | 26,768 | No. 46 |
| 1940s | 50,303 | No. 35 |
| 1950s | 16,535 | No. 140 |
| 1960s | 10,566 | No. 203 |
| 1970s | 2,209 | No. 480 |
| 1980s | 941 | No. 1148 |
| 1990s | 522 | No. 1617 |
| 2000s | 210 | No. 3805 |
| 2010s | 95 | No. 8580 |
| 2020s | 25 | No. 10107 |
Births and rank shown for girls, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.
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Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.