girl's name
Carol
KAIR-ul
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 837,707
Northern Ireland
#370
1998 births
Carol is a girl's name with two independent sources: a short form of Caroline, and the word for a joyful song. It peaked in 1946 and has fallen to 2239th in the United States, one of the steepest declines in this group.
- Carol is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1946, when 34,458 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 40,432 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Carol over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 125 |
| 1890s | 429 |
| 1900s | 1,036 |
| 1910s | 6,177 |
| 1920s | 24,528 |
| 1930s | 120,212 |
| 1940s | 294,291 |
| 1950s | 223,570 |
| 1960s | 112,904 |
| 1970s | 23,689 |
| 1980s | 8,981 |
| 1990s | 5,012 |
| 2000s | 2,760 |
| 2010s | 1,379 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 491 |
What Carol means
Carol means either free man, carried through Caroline from the Germanic Charles, or a song of joy. The two meanings come from unrelated words that converged on one spelling.
Where Carol comes from
Carol arrives twice. As a short form of Caroline it descends from Charles, the Germanic karl, a free man — the same root that gives Charlotte and, through the churl, the English word for a peasant. Separately, a carol was a ring dance accompanied by singing, from the Old French carole, and the word narrowed over centuries to mean a Christmas song specifically. Which source a family had in mind is usually unrecoverable, though the name's peak in the 1940s sits alongside a general fashion for short, bright girls' names rather than any religious revival. It was also used for boys, chiefly in Romania, where Carol is the form of Charles borne by two kings.
Carol in use
Carol peaked in the United States in 1946, when 34,458 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 2150th in England and Wales and 2239th in the United States on 82 births, across 837,707 lifetime births in two markets. About one percent of recorded births are male, a residue of its separate use as a masculine name in Romania and elsewhere in central Europe.
How popular is Carol?
In 2025, Carol was given to 82 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Carol 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 Carol
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Carol also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Carol over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Carol
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Carol 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 Carol
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Carol — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Carol
What does the name Carol mean?
Free man, through Caroline and Charles — or a joyful song, from the Old French carole. The two sources are unrelated.
Is Carol short for Caroline?
It can be, and it is also a name in its own right taken from the word for a song.
Is Carol a boys' name?
It has been, chiefly in Romania, where Carol is the form of Charles borne by two kings. About one percent of births in our data are male.
How popular is Carol?
2239th in the United States, down from a 1946 peak of 34,458 births.
How many syllables are in Carol?
Carol has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Carol?
Carol is usually shortened to Caz.
Is Carol a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Carol currently ranks #2,150 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.