Carlee

#1,911 in 2025Girls' name

Free man, through Carly

Carlee has been given to 13,290 babies in the U.S. since 1902. In 2025 it ranked #1,911 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2009, with 464 recorded.

Babies named Carlee, 2025

1 in 32,800

Carlee over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Carlee: meaning, origin, and history

Free man, through Carly

Germanic languages

What Carlee means

Carlee belongs to the name family reached through Carlee → Carly → Carl → Charles. Its meaning is “free man”.

Origin, language, and formation

Carlee is used in English. Its origins include Germanic languages.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Carly, Carl and Charles.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 12,982 girls were recorded with the name Carlee between 1902 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 464 in 2009; its best national rank was #600 in 1997.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,321 in 2020 to #1,911 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #760 in 2015 to #1,911 in 2025.

In the United States, 308 boys were recorded with the name Carlee between 1912 and 2008. Its highest annual count was 15 in 1930; its best national rank was #1,979 in 1930.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Carlee?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 32,800; 101 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only: 1 in 15,900; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025: #1,911; of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 22,753 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Carlee sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 22,753 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Carlee. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Carlees were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Carlee was born before 2004 — so the typical Carlee is around 21 today.

Median birth year: 2004; About 21 years old
Biggest decade: 2000s; 32.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 60.1%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 12,557; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2000s — 32.5% of all recorded uses (4,214).

Is Carlee rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: −225; Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago: −590; Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago: −1,151; Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago: 0.27×; Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak: 21.8%; Peak was 2009 (464)
Years since peak: 16; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Steady; 9.3% average annual change
Best rank ever: #600; 1997

Spellings of Carlee

Carlee is not the most common spelling — Carrie is, with 12.0% against Carlee's 0.58%.

Carrie12.0%266,350
Darlene9.2%204,942
Carla6.8%150,390
Arlene6.4%143,010
Carmen6.4%142,795
Kaylee6.3%140,425
Charlene6.0%133,729
Marlene5.9%130,573

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Carlee is used

Across 2016–2025, Carlee was most concentrated in Louisiana — about 1 in 2,564 girls, against 1 in 8,496 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in 50,000).

239 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Louisiana1 in 2,564
2Alabama1 in 3,125
3Mississippi1 in 3,226
4Tennessee1 in 3,448
5Kentucky1 in 3,571
6Missouri1 in 3,571
7Arkansas1 in 4,348
8Ohio1 in 4,762

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Carlee around the world

Where Carlee ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
1996–2015
#5,730
in 2015
Scotland
2008–2008
#793
in 2008
Canada
1991–2023
#3,391
in 2023
South Australia
1969–2008
#796
in 2008

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Carlee

People whose public names include Carlee, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

Carlee TaylorSport cyclist
b. 1989
Carlee BeattieAthletics competitor
b. 1982

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Carlee in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Carlee. Linked forms have their own page here.

Carli Carly Karly Carlie Carlye Karlee Karlie

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Carlee by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #1,911
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Down 590
Best rank ever: #600; 1997
Peak year: 2009; 464 that year
First recorded: 1902
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 12,982
Count in 2025: 101

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #1,979; 1930
Peak year: 1930; 15 that year
First recorded: 1912
Last recorded: 2008
All-time count: 308
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Carlee

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Carolee Caralee Carlie Carina Carter Carley Carson Carmel Carlene Carsyn Carlyn Carli Kailee Karlee Carmela Brylee Bailee Hailee Cari Caylee Carissa Marlee Jaylee Harlee

Names with a curve like Carlee

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Carlee, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

Janessa Kaylynn Kinsey Macey Kaylin Jacey Lizeth Perla Kendal Unique Ayana Jazmyn

Sibling names for Carlee

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Maryjane Jaelyn Janessa Janiya Myah Jaylynn Amiya Kaylynn

For a brother

Braydon Justus Giovanny Aydan Javion Rylee Aditya Keagan

Explore around Carlee

Top names of 2009, Carlee's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 1997 Girls' names starting with C