Giancarlo
Italian baby name translating to "John Charles."
Name Census estimates that about 8,374 living Americans carry the first name Giancarlo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Giancarlo today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Giancarlo births was 2008 (381 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Giancarlo. 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 Giancarlo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
8.4K
~ 1 in 40,931 Americans
Peak year
2008
381 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,404
Tracked since 1956
Census
Giancarlo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,306 people with the first name Giancarlo, which placed it at #2,794 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
#2,794
National first-name rank
People counted
8.3K
8,306 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
67.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Giancarlo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Giancarlo is Hispanic at 67.1%. The next largest groups are White (24.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.8%). 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 Giancarlo 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 Giancarlo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino67.1% · 5,571
- White24.7% · 2,051
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.8% · 479
- Two or more races1.5% · 122
- Black or African American0.9% · 74
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 9
Popularity
Giancarlo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Giancarlo from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 2,873 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Giancarlo 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 Giancarlo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Giancarlos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. California, Florida, New York recorded the most babies named Giancarlo, while Wisconsin, Utah, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 272 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Giancarlo
Giancarlo is a masculine given name of Italian origin, formed by a combination of the names Giovanni and Carlo. The name Giovanni traces its roots back to the Hebrew name Yochanan, meaning "Yahweh is gracious," while Carlo is derived from the Germanic name Karl, meaning "free man."
The earliest recorded use of the name Giancarlo dates back to the Middle Ages in Italy. During this period, it was common for children to be named after saints or biblical figures, and the name Giancarlo likely emerged as a blend of these two popular names, Giovanni and Carlo.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Giancarlo was Giancarlo Passeroni, an Italian poet and dramatist who lived from 1713 to 1803. He was renowned for his satirical works and plays, which often addressed social and political issues of his time.
Another notable figure was Giancarlo de' Medici (1611-1663), an Italian nobleman and patron of the arts. As a member of the powerful Medici family, he played a significant role in the cultural and artistic life of Florence during the 17th century.
In the 20th century, Giancarlo Menotti (1911-2007) was a renowned Italian-American composer and librettist. He is best known for his operas, such as "Amahl and the Night Visitors," which is considered a classic of modern American opera.
Giancarlo Giannini (born 1942) is an Italian actor and film director who has appeared in numerous acclaimed films, including "Mimì metallurgico ferito nell'onore" and "La scorta." He is widely regarded as one of the most talented and versatile actors of his generation.
Giancarlo Esposito (born 1958) is an American actor of Italian descent who has gained recognition for his roles in television series such as "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul." He is known for his intense and compelling performances, often portraying complex and morally ambiguous characters.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Giancarlo throughout history. While its origins can be traced back to the Middle Ages in Italy, the name has since gained popularity and recognition around the world, reflecting its enduring cultural significance and appeal.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Giancarlo
People
Giancarlo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Giancarlo as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Giancarlo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Giancarlo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,374 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Giancarlo 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 40,931 US residents.
Is Giancarlo a common name?
We classify Giancarlo as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,526 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Giancarlo most popular?
The single biggest year for Giancarlo was 2008, when 381 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Giancarlo is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Giancarlo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,306 people with the name Giancarlo, or 2.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,794 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 Giancarlo 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 Giancarlo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Giancarlo appears almost entirely male. Of the 8,305 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Giancarlo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Giancarlo is Hispanic at 67.1%. The next largest groups are White (24.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.8%). 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 Giancarlo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Giancarlo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.1% (5,571 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 Giancarlo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Giancarlo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Giancarlo in the SSA data are male. 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 Giancarlo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Giancarlo 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 Giancarlo 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 Giancarlo?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.