girl's name
Carly
KAR-lee
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 77,194
Ireland
#402
2024 births
Carly means free man, and the Germanic word named a free peasant rather than a lord — so a name that now reads as light and modern began at the bottom of the free classes.
- Carly is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1995, when 2,585 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 13,368 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1951.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Carly over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1950s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 24 |
| 1960s | 7 |
| 1970s | 2,994 |
| 1980s | 12,548 |
| 1990s | 22,843 |
| 2000s | 16,709 |
| 2010s | 9,300 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,201 |
What Carly means
Carly means free man, or free woman in the feminine. The Germanic karl named a free peasant specifically, a man belonging to no lord, rather than freedom as an idea.
Where Carly comes from
Carly is a feminine of Carl, from the Germanic karl — a free man of the ordinary class, above a serf and below a noble. The word traveled in both directions: upward into Charlemagne, whose name became the Slavic word for a king, and downward into the English churl, a boor. Carly belongs to a large family of feminines with Carla, Carol, Caroline, Charlotte and Charlene, all the same common noun by different national routes.
Carly in use
Carly peaked in the United States in 1995, when 2,585 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in four of the seven markets we track — 614th in Scotland on 5 births, 1011th in the United States on 264, 1389th in Canada and 3623rd in England and Wales on 6 — across 77,194 lifetime births. Scotland ranks it above both other markets.
How popular is Carly?
In 2025, Carly was given to 248 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Carly is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Carly
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Carly also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Carly over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Carly in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Carly
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Carly — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Carly
What does the name Carly mean?
Free man — the Germanic karl, a free peasant rather than a nobleman.
How did karl come to name emperors?
Through Charlemagne, whose name became the word for a king in several Slavic languages.
Is Carly related to Charlotte?
Yes — both are feminines of the same Germanic word by different routes.
How popular is Carly?
614th in Scotland, its strongest market, and 1011th in the United States.
Is Carly a girl's or a boy's name?
Carly is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Carly?
Carly has 2 syllables.
Is Carly a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Carly currently ranks #614 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.