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Carli

#3,407 in 2025Girls' name

Free man, through Carly

Carli has been given to 8,972 babies in the U.S. since 1957. In 2025 it ranked #3,407 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1996, with 365 recorded.

Babies named Carli, 2025

1 in 73,700

Carli over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Carli: meaning, origin, and history

Free man, through Carly

Germanic languages

What Carli means

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

Origin, language, and formation

Carli 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, 8,967 girls were recorded with the name Carli between 1957 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 365 in 1996; its best national rank was #622 in 1996.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,649 in 2020 to #3,407 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,523 in 2015 to #3,407 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Carli between 1994 and 1994. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1994; its best national rank was #8,984 in 1994.

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 Carli?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 73,700
45 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 35,700
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#3,407
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
51,066 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Carli 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 51,066 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Carli. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Carlis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Carli was born before 1999 — so the typical Carli is around 26 today.

Median birth year
1999
About 26 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
33.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
44.8%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
8,967
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 33.8% of all recorded uses (3,034).

Is Carli 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
−384
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,758
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,884
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.30×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
12.3%
Peak was 1996 (365)
Years since peak
29
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#622
1996

Spellings of Carli

Carli is not the most common spelling — Carol is, with 34.6% against Carli's 0.38%.

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 Carli is used

Across 2016–2025, Carli was most concentrated in Louisiana — about 1 in 6,250 girls, against 1 in 26,497 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in 100,000).

116 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Louisiana1 in 6,250
  2. 2Missouri1 in 10,000
  3. 3Georgia1 in 14,286
  4. 4Ohio1 in 16,667
  5. 5Maryland1 in 20,000
  6. 6Texas1 in 20,000
  7. 7Alabama1 in 33,333
  8. 8California1 in 33,333

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.

Carli around the world

Where Carli 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
    1996–2013
    #5,742
    in 2013
  • Scotland
    1989–2012
    #665
    in 2012
  • Canada
    1991–2016
    #3,204
    in 2016
  • South Australia
    1969–2006
    #782
    in 2006

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 Carli

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

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.

Carli in other languages

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

CarlyKarlyCarleeCarlieCarlyeKarleeKarlie

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

Carli by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#3,407
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,758
Best rank ever
#622
1996
Peak year
1996
365 that year
First recorded
1957
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
8,967
Count in 2025
45

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#8,984
1994
Peak year
1994
5 that year
First recorded
1994
Last recorded
1994
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Carli

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

CarmaCarsonCarterCarmelCariCarleeCarlieCarenCarysCarinaCarleyKarliCarsynCarlynCarynCarylCareyCarinCarieCarisCarlyCarleneCarriCharli

Names with a curve like Carli

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

FabiolaErynTiannaAlexYesseniaElyssaMarielaKalynKaleyTessGabrielAlyssia

Sibling names for Carli

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

Explore around Carli

Top names of 1996, Carli's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1996Girls' names starting with C