Carleen
A feminine name derived from Caroline, of French origin meaning pure or virginal.
Name Census estimates that about 4,436 living Americans carry the first name Carleen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carleen today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carleen births was 1961 (168 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carleen. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Carleen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.4K
~ 1 in 77,267 Americans
Peak year
1961
168 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2022 SSA rank
#15,753
Tracked since 1908
Census
Carleen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,309 people with the first name Carleen, which placed it at #3,758 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,758
National first-name rank
People counted
5.3K
5,309 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carleen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carleen is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Hispanic (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Carleen described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Carleen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.9% · 4,030
- Black or African American12.8% · 678
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 237
- Two or more races3.0% · 160
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 131
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 73
Popularity
Carleen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carleen from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,498 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carleen by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Carleen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carleens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, New York, Michigan recorded the most babies named Carleen, while Tennessee, South Dakota, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 89 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carleen
Carleen is an English feminine given name derived from the French name Caroline, which itself has its roots in the Latin name Carolus, meaning "free man." The name Caroline gained popularity in France during the 9th century, as it was the name of several French queens and princesses.
The earliest known use of the name Carleen can be traced back to the late 19th century, when it emerged as a diminutive form of Caroline. It is believed that the name Carleen was first used as a distinct name in English-speaking countries, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Carleen was Carleen Hutchins (1911-2009), an American violin maker and acoustician. She was a pioneer in the field of violin acoustics and made significant contributions to the understanding of violin design and construction.
Another notable figure named Carleen was Carleen Bryant (1936-2020), an American country music singer and songwriter. She had a successful career in the 1960s and 1970s, with several hit songs on the Billboard country music charts.
Carleen Bright (born 1941) is a former American professional tennis player who was active in the 1960s and 1970s. She won several Grand Slam doubles titles and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1995.
Carleen Brice (born 1964) is an American author and journalist. She is best known for her novels "Orange Mint and Honey" and "Children of the Waters," which explore themes of race, identity, and family dynamics.
Carleen Anderson (born 1957) is a British singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of famous jazz singer Vicky Anderson and has had a successful career in both music and acting, appearing in several films and TV shows.
While the name Carleen has its roots in French and Latin, it has become a distinct and recognized name in its own right, particularly in English-speaking countries. Its history spans over a century, and it has been borne by notable figures in various fields, including music, sports, literature, and science.
People
Carleen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carleen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Carleen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carleen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,436 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carleen going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 77,267 US residents.
Is Carleen a common name?
We classify Carleen as "Rare". It ranks above 96.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,744 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carleen most popular?
The single biggest year for Carleen was 1961, when 168 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carleen is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carleen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,309 people with the name Carleen, or 1.76 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,758 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Carleen in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Carleen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carleen appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,304 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Carleen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carleen is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Hispanic (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Carleen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carleen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.9% (4,030 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Carleen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carleen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carleen in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Carleen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carleen in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Carleen can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Carleen?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.