Carolyn
An English elaboration of Caroline, the feminine of Charles.
Popularity, 1880–2025
A variant of Caroline, the feminine of Charles, at its height in the midcentury decades.
Carolyn appears in the national records from the very first year, 1880. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American girls in every year from 1927 to 1970. Its biggest year was 1947, when 20,742 newborn girls received the name, ranking it No. 15 nationally. Its best ranking came in 1942, at No. 10. All told, 558,397 Americans have been given the name since 1880.
Related names
Other spellings on record: Caroline (250,719), Carlene (15,225), Carleen (6,744), Carolynn (6,453), Karolyn (5,957), Carolann (5,652) (total births since 1880)
Other names that share a story: Charles, Caroline
Explore Carolyn interactively →By the decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 856 | No. 163 |
| 1890s | 1,401 | No. 211 |
| 1900s | 2,009 | No. 194 |
| 1910s | 8,940 | No. 163 |
| 1920s | 22,776 | No. 77 |
| 1930s | 69,525 | No. 14 |
| 1940s | 181,858 | No. 10 |
| 1950s | 124,067 | No. 20 |
| 1960s | 75,266 | No. 42 |
| 1970s | 27,046 | No. 84 |
| 1980s | 18,628 | No. 144 |
| 1990s | 12,884 | No. 169 |
| 2000s | 6,737 | No. 308 |
| 2010s | 3,482 | No. 736 |
| 2020s | 1,302 | No. 947 |
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.
🍼 Enjoying this? Buy my baby a diaper
Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.