Girls' name · peaked in 1995
Carly name popularity since 1925
66,626 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Carly. Half of them were born in 1997 or earlier, so the typical Carly is about 29 years old in 2026. Carly peaked in 1995 as the #122 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 66,626
- Named Carly, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,009 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.8% girls
- 66,466 girls · 160 boys
- Most popular in
- Utah
- 1.72× its national share
Peak year is the year Carly 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.
Carly births per year, 1925–2025
1995 was the biggest year for Carly both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1977 and 1982, Carly became 2.8× more common, from 1 in 3,820 baby girls to 1 in 1,360.
- Steepest fall: Between 2020 and 2025, its share of baby girls fell by 47%, from 1 in 3,430 to 1 in 6,480.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Carly's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Carly.
Decade by decade
Babies named Carly 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 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1950s | 24 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1960s | 7 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1970s | 2,980 | 14 | #543 |
| 1980s | 12,475 | 73 | #202 |
| 1990s | 22,791 | 52 | #122 |
| 2000s | 16,688 | 21 | #199 |
| 2010s | 9,300 | 0 | #389 |
| 2020–25 | 2,201 | 0 | #1,009 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
42.3% of babies named Carly from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Millennial years (1981–1996). The full split by generation:
Where Carly is most popular
The index compares Carly'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 Carly.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Utah | 1.72× | 961 |
| New Jersey | 1.69× | 3,057 |
| Washington | 1.41× | 1,552 |
| Minnesota | 1.40× | 1,683 |
| Wisconsin | 1.37× | 1,772 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Carly 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Carly (this page) | 66,466 | 1995 |
| Carley | 16,861 | 1998 |
| Carlie | 14,689 | 2004 |
| Carlee | 12,829 | 2009 |
| Karly | 10,866 | 1993 |
| Carli | 8,967 | 1996 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Carly's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Carly.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Carly (1995).
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