Mostly boys · peaked in 1957
Carey name popularity since 1925
28,096 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Carey (44.6% girls, 55.4% boys). Half of them were born in 1970 or earlier, so the typical Carey is about 56 years old in 2026. Carey peaked in 1957 as the #353 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 28,096
- Named Carey, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #6,519 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 55.4% boys
- 12,538 girls · 15,558 boys
- Most popular in
- Georgia
- 2.35× its national share
Peak year is the year Carey made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Carey births per year, 1925–2025
1957 was the biggest year for Carey both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1949 and 1954, Carey became 1.8× more common, from 1 in 9,050 baby boys to 1 in 5,060.
- Steepest fall: Between 1975 and 1980, its share of baby boys fell by 51%, from 1 in 5,170 to 1 in 10,600.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Carey's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Carey.
Decade by decade
Babies named Carey in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 54 | 355 | – |
| 1930s | 144 | 787 | #664 |
| 1940s | 296 | 1,559 | #520 |
| 1950s | 1,181 | 3,649 | #378 |
| 1960s | 2,059 | 3,289 | #463 |
| 1970s | 5,605 | 2,766 | #464 |
| 1980s | 2,026 | 1,604 | #683 |
| 1990s | 796 | 887 | #1,381 |
| 2000s | 246 | 351 | #3,541 |
| 2010s | 101 | 238 | #4,312 |
| 2020–25 | 30 | 73 | #6,519 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
41.8% of babies named Carey from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Carey is most popular
The index compares Carey's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Carey.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 2.35× | 1,374 |
| Louisiana | 2.31× | 879 |
| Mississippi | 2.08× | 533 |
| Alabama | 1.93× | 722 |
| Virginia | 1.43× | 684 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Carey and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Carey (this page) | 15,558 | 1957 |
| Cary | 23,423 | 1966 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Carey's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Carey.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Carey (1957).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data