Girls' name · peaked in 1962
Carla name popularity since 1925
150,439 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Carla. Half of them were born in 1966 or earlier, so the typical Carla is about 60 years old in 2026. Carla peaked in 1962 as the #78 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 150,439
- Named Carla, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,083 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 150,014 girls · 425 boys
- Most popular in
- New Mexico
- 1.62× its national share
Peak year is the year Carla made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Carla births per year, 1925–2025
1962 was the biggest year for Carla both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1942 and 1947, Carla became 2.2× more common, from 1 in 2,440 baby girls to 1 in 1,130.
- Steepest fall: Between 2008 and 2013, its share of baby girls fell by 39%, from 1 in 3,560 to 1 in 5,850.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Carla's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Carla.
Decade by decade
Babies named Carla in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 410 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 2,262 | 0 | #441 |
| 1940s | 9,486 | 11 | #222 |
| 1950s | 29,432 | 58 | #135 |
| 1960s | 47,905 | 119 | #76 |
| 1970s | 26,841 | 98 | #122 |
| 1980s | 14,455 | 104 | #194 |
| 1990s | 8,400 | 35 | #344 |
| 2000s | 6,167 | 0 | #509 |
| 2010s | 3,155 | 0 | #875 |
| 2020–25 | 1,501 | 0 | #1,083 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
41.2% of babies named Carla from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Carla is most popular
The index compares Carla'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 Carla.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| New Mexico | 1.62× | 1,327 |
| Oklahoma | 1.56× | 3,021 |
| South Dakota | 1.56× | 739 |
| Arkansas | 1.51× | 2,301 |
| Missouri | 1.48× | 4,797 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Carla and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Carla (this page) | 150,014 | 1962 |
| Karla | 91,536 | 1964 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Carla's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Carla.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Carla (1962).
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