Carlynn
A feminine name derived from Charles, meaning "free woman".
Name Census estimates that about 732 living Americans carry the first name Carlynn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carlynn today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carlynn births was 2017 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carlynn. 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 Carlynn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
732
~ 1 in 468,244 Americans
Peak year
2017
25 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,405
Tracked since 1922
Census
Carlynn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 752 people with the first name Carlynn, which placed it at #15,339 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
#15,339
National first-name rank
People counted
752
752 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carlynn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlynn is White at 66.5%. The next largest groups are Black (17.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.3%). 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 Carlynn 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 Carlynn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.5% · 500
- Black or African American17.4% · 131
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.3% · 47
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 31
- Two or more races4.1% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 12
Popularity
Carlynn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carlynn from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 186 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Carlynn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carlynn 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 Carlynn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carlynns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Carlynn
The name Carlynn is a relatively modern variant of the more traditional name Carla or Carlie, which have their origins in the Germanic languages. The name is thought to be a feminine form of the name Carl, which itself derives from the Old Norse name Karlr, meaning "free man" or "man."
The earliest recorded use of the name Carlynn can be traced back to the late 19th century in parts of the United States and Canada. While its exact etymology is unclear, it is believed to have emerged as a combination of the names Carla and Lynn, with the latter being a popular English name derived from the Old German name Lind, meaning "gentle" or "tender."
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Carlynn was Carlynn Elizabeth Coville, an American educator and author born in 1924. She wrote several books on early childhood education and was a pioneering figure in the field of early childhood development.
Another notable figure was Carlynn Trout, an American artist and painter born in 1945. She was known for her vibrant abstract expressionist works and had several solo exhibitions throughout the United States.
In the literary world, Carlynn Everitt was a Canadian author and journalist born in 1946. She wrote several books on topics ranging from travel to parenting, and her work was published in various magazines and newspapers across Canada.
Carlynn Bethel-Frolick, born in 1962, was a trailblazing figure in the field of women's basketball. She played professionally in Europe and was a member of the Canadian national team, competing in multiple international tournaments.
Finally, Carlynn Reed, born in 1975, is a contemporary American singer and songwriter. She has released several albums and is known for her soulful and powerful vocal stylings, often drawing comparisons to legendary artists like Aretha Franklin and Etta James.
While the name Carlynn may have originated from a combination of more traditional names, it has since gained its own identity and has been borne by notable individuals across various fields and disciplines throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
People
Carlynn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carlynn 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
Carlynn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carlynn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 732 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carlynn 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 468,244 US residents.
Is Carlynn a common name?
We classify Carlynn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 820 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carlynn most popular?
The single biggest year for Carlynn was 2017, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carlynn is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carlynn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 752 people with the name Carlynn, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,339 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 Carlynn 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 Carlynn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carlynn leans strongly female. 735 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 20 male bearers (2.6%). 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 Carlynn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlynn is White at 66.5%. The next largest groups are Black (17.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.3%). 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 Carlynn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carlynn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.5% (500 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 Carlynn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carlynn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carlynn 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 Carlynn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carlynn 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 Carlynn 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 Carlynn?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Carlynn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.