Carletha
A feminine name from a diminutive form of "Carol", itself from "Charles", meaning "strong, manly".
Name Census estimates that about 394 living Americans carry the first name Carletha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carletha today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carletha births was 1962 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carletha. 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.
People living today
394
~ 1 in 869,935 Americans
Peak year
1962
20 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1999 SSA rank
#14,807
Tracked since 1928
Census
Carletha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 365 people with the first name Carletha, which placed it at #25,801 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
#25,801
National first-name rank
People counted
365
365 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carletha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carletha is Black at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Hispanic (1.4%). 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 Carletha 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 Carletha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.2% · 344
- White2.7% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 4
- Two or more races0.5% · 2
Popularity
Carletha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carletha from the 1920s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 130 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carletha 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 Carletha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carlethas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Carletha
The name Carletha has its origins in the ancient Germanic language, tracing back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Old German words "karl," meaning "man" or "husband," and "letha," meaning "guidance" or "leadership." The name was initially associated with the warrior culture of the Germanic tribes and was often given to sons who were expected to become strong and courageous leaders.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Carletha can be found in the Codex Regius, an ancient manuscript containing Old Norse poetry and legends from Iceland. In this text, there is a reference to a warrior named Carletha who fought bravely in battles against invading forces. Unfortunately, little is known about the specific details of his life or the time period in which he lived.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Carletha gained popularity among the ruling classes and nobility in various Germanic regions, including modern-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Several notable figures from this era bore the name, including Carletha of Saxony (982-1039), a powerful feudal lord and military commander who played a significant role in the Holy Roman Empire.
During the Renaissance period, the name Carletha became associated with intellectual pursuits and the arts. One prominent figure from this time was Carletha von Goethe (1520-1588), a renowned poet and scholar from Strasbourg, who was widely celebrated for his lyrical works and contributions to the German literary tradition.
In the 18th century, Carletha Beethoven (1712-1773), the grandfather of the famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven, was a highly respected court musician and singer in the service of the Elector of Cologne. His son, Johann van Beethoven (1740-1792), carried on the family's musical legacy and was also known by the name Carletha.
Another notable figure bearing the name Carletha was the German explorer and naturalist Carletha von Humboldt (1769-1859), who made significant contributions to the fields of geography, botany, and cartography through his extensive travels and research in South America and Central America.
While the name Carletha has fallen out of widespread use in more recent times, it remains a unique and historically significant name that reflects the rich cultural heritage of the Germanic peoples and their contributions to various aspects of human civilization.
People
Carletha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carletha 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
Carletha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carletha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 394 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carletha 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 869,935 US residents.
Is Carletha a common name?
We classify Carletha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 488 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carletha most popular?
The single biggest year for Carletha was 1962, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carletha is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carletha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 365 people with the name Carletha, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,801 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 Carletha 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 Carletha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carletha leans strongly female. 360 people counted with this name were female (98.1%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.9%). 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 Carletha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carletha is Black at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Hispanic (1.4%). 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 Carletha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Carletha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.2% (344 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 Carletha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carletha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carletha 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 Carletha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carletha 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 Carletha 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 common is the name Carletha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.