Carline
A feminine name derived from Caroline, itself from the Germanic name Karl meaning "free man".
Name Census estimates that about 925 living Americans carry the first name Carline. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carline today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carline births was 1949 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carline. 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
925
~ 1 in 370,545 Americans
Peak year
1949
35 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1920 SSA rank
#4,387
Tracked since 1898
Census
Carline in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,775 people with the first name Carline, which placed it at #5,935 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
#5,935
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,775 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
71.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carline
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carline is Black at 71.0%. The next largest groups are White (21.5%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Carline 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 Carline at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American71.0% · 1,969
- White21.5% · 597
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 95
- Two or more races2.1% · 57
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 20
Gender
Gender distribution for Carline
Out of the 1,661 babies given the name Carline since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Carline as a male name
- Ranked #4,387 in 1920
- 5 male births in 1920
- Peak: 1920 (5 births)
Carline as a female name
- Ranked #12,817 in 2008
- 8 female births in 2008
- Peak: 1949 (35 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carline appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,790 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Carline: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carline from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 242 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carline 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 Carline during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carlines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, Florida, Alabama recorded the most babies named Carline, while Texas, Maine, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carline
The name Carline has its origins in the Late Latin word "Carlina," which was derived from the name "Carolus," the Latin form of the Germanic name Charles. It is believed to have been introduced into Europe during the reign of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, who ruled from 768 to 814 AD. The name was initially used as a feminine form of Charles and gained popularity across various regions of Europe.
In the early Middle Ages, the name Carline was particularly prevalent in areas under Frankish influence, such as modern-day France, Germany, and parts of Italy. It was associated with noble families and was often bestowed upon daughters of aristocratic lineage as a testament to their heritage and connection to the Carolingian dynasty.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Carline can be found in the chronicles of the Benedictine monastery of Fleury, where a nun named Carline is mentioned in the 10th century. Additionally, the name appears in several medieval charters and records from various European regions, indicating its widespread use during that era.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Carline. One of the earliest examples is Carline of Anjou (1092-1142), a French noblewoman who was the daughter of Fulk IV, Count of Anjou, and the wife of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine. Another prominent figure was Carline of Baden (1776-1841), who was the daughter of Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden, and served as the Queen consort of Bavaria from 1806 to 1825.
In the realm of the arts, Carline Michaelis (1851-1917) was a notable German writer and poet who gained recognition for her literary works, including poetry collections and novels. Carline Ray (1879-1976) was an American actress and vaudeville performer who had a successful career on stage during the early 20th century.
Another notable figure was Carline Gall (1874-1955), a French feminist and activist who played a significant role in the women's suffrage movement in France. She was a co-founder of the French Union for Women's Suffrage and dedicated her life to advocating for equal rights and political representation for women.
While the name Carline has become less common in modern times, it remains a part of historical records and continues to hold significance in various cultural contexts, serving as a reminder of its rich heritage and connections to influential figures throughout the ages.
People
Carline + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carline 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
Carline: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carline?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 925 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carline 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 370,545 US residents.
Is Carline a common name?
We classify Carline as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,661 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carline most popular?
The single biggest year for Carline was 1949, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carline 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 Carline in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,775 people with the name Carline, or 0.92 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,935 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 Carline 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 Carline?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carline appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,790 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Carline?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carline is Black at 71.0%. The next largest groups are White (21.5%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Carline most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Carline in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.0% (1,969 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 Carline in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carline a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Carline 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 Carline still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carline 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 Carline 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 have the name Carline?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.