Carolus

Boys' name

From Old High German karal; literal meaning unconfirmed

Carolus has been given to 10 babies in the U.S. since 1962. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1962, with 5 recorded.

Babies named Carolus, 1967

1 in 679,000

Carolus over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Carolus: meaning, origin, and history

From Old High German karal; literal meaning unconfirmed

Germanic languages

What Carolus means

Carolus is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Carolus is used in Latin. Its origins include Germanic languages.

Carolus comes through Old High German karal, frk *karil and Proto-Germanic *karilaz.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Latin, Carolus is pronounced [ˈka.rɔ.ɫʊs].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 10 boys were recorded with the name Carolus between 1962 and 1967. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1962; its best national rank was #4,039 in 1967.

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 Carolus?

Carolus had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1967, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1967: 1 in 679,000; 5 of 3,394,772 births
Among boys only: 1 in 349,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1967: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 470,616 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Carolus sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1967 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 470,616 children born in 1967 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Carolus. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Caroluss were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Carolus was born before 1962 — so the typical Carolus is around 63 today.

Median birth year: 1962; About 63 years old
Biggest decade: 1960s; 100.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 10; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1960s — 100.0% of all recorded uses (10).

Is Carolus 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: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1962 (5)
Years since peak: 63; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Not enough data; Too few years
Best rank ever: #4,039; 1967

Spellings of Carolus

Carolus is not the most common spelling — Carlos is, with 95.6% against Carolus's <0.01%.

Carlos95.6%307,036
Carol2.7%8,656
Carolyn0.50%1,620
Carlis0.38%1,221
Caroll0.24%776
Carles0.21%681
Carlus0.16%525
Carlous0.16%510

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.

Carolus around the world

Where Carolus 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.

France
1905–1925
#1,073
in 1925
South Australia
1979–1979
#486
in 1979

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Carolus by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #4,039; 1967
Peak year: 1962; 5 that year
First recorded: 1962
Last recorded: 1967
All-time count: 10
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Carolus

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

Cartyr Carneal Carland Carlose Carissa Carmell Caruso Cardiff Carlile Carloss Careron Carstyn Carlier Carleon Regulus Cartell Carline Carveth Carrold Carlvin Carmela Carrion Carville Carrigan

Sibling names for Carolus

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

Donita Tena Jeanetta Patrica Tana Treva Jonna Edie

For a brother

Tod Greggory Mitch Berry Art Toney Kris Lenny

Explore around Carolus

Top names of 1962, Carolus's peak year The 1960s in full Other names that peaked in 1967 Boys' names starting with C