Name Awesome

Carrol

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Free man, through Carol

Carrol has been given to 10,319 babies in the U.S. since 1890. 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 1930, with 191 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 59% boys, 41% girls all-time.

Babies named Carrol, 1989

1 in 480,000

Carrol over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Carrol over time

In 2002, Carrol went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

18902002

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Carrol: meaning, origin, and history

Free man, through Carol

surname transfer and Germanic languages

What Carrol means

Carrol belongs to the name family reached through Carrol → Carol → Carolus → Charles. Its meaning is “free man”.

Origin, language, and formation

Carrol is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer and Germanic languages.

Carrol is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Carol, Carolus and Charles.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,067 boys were recorded with the name Carrol between 1890 and 1989. Its highest annual count was 191 in 1930; its best national rank was #423 in 1934.

In the United States, 4,252 girls were recorded with the name Carrol between 1907 and 2002. Its highest annual count was 200 in 1943; its best national rank was #533 in 1943.

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 Carrol?

Carrol had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1989, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1989
1 in 480,000
8 of 3,842,268 births
Among boys only
1 in 250,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 1989
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
332,908 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Carrol 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 1989 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 332,908 children born in 1989 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Carrol. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Carrols were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Carrol was born before 1934 — so the typical Carrol is around 91 today.

Median birth year
1934
About 91 years old
Biggest decade
1930s
28.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
4.3%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
851
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1930s — 28.1% of all recorded uses (1,705).

Is Carrol 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 1930 (191)
Years since peak
95
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
31.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#423
1934

Spellings of Carrol

Carrol is not the most common spelling — Carl is, with 41.0% against Carrol's 0.49%.

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 Carrol is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Carrol was most concentrated in Arkansas — about 1 in 6,250 boys, against 1 in 34,984 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in —).

016 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Arkansas1 in 6,250
  2. 2Oklahoma1 in 8,333
  3. 3Louisiana1 in 9,091
  4. 4Iowa1 in 12,500
  5. 5Kansas1 in 16,667
  6. 6Kentucky1 in 16,667
  7. 7Missouri1 in 20,000
  8. 8South Carolina1 in 20,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys 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. Carrol has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Carrol is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Carrol was most concentrated in Oklahoma — about 1 in 20,000 girls, against 1 in 84,227 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

05 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Oklahoma1 in 20,000
  2. 2Missouri1 in 33,333
  3. 3West Virginia1 in 33,333
  4. 4Arkansas1 in 50,000
  5. 5California1 in 50,000
  6. 6Indiana1 in 50,000
  7. 7Michigan1 in 50,000
  8. 8Texas1 in 50,000

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. Carrol has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Carrol around the world

Where Carrol 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.

  • South Australia
    1944–1984
    #661
    in 1984

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Carrol

People whose public names include Carrol, 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.

Carrol 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
#423
1934
Peak year
1930
191 that year
First recorded
1890
Last recorded
1989
All-time count
6,067
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#533
1943
Peak year
1943
200 that year
First recorded
1907
Last recorded
2002
All-time count
4,252
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Carrol

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

CarolCarsenCarverCarlinCarnellCarmenCarsynCarlyleCarmelCarmeloCarmineCartierCardellCarstenCarloCareyCarlitoErrolCaronCarmelloCardenCarlisleCarderCarlie

Names with a curve like Carrol

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

GaylordDelmerShirleyNormandBeverlyMerlynDorothyKayHermonArtherDorisJoyce

Sibling names for Carrol

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 Carrol

Top names of 1930, Carrol's peak yearThe 1930s in fullOther names that peaked in 1934Boys' names starting with C