Girls' name · peaked in 1923
Carmela name popularity since 1925
17,103 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Carmela. Half of them were born in 1958 or earlier, so the typical Carmela is about 68 years old in 2026. Carmela peaked in 1923 as the #266 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 17,103
- Named Carmela, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1923
- #266 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,219 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 100.0% girls
- 17,098 girls · 5 boys
- Most popular in
- New York
- 5.76× its national share
Peak year is the year Carmela 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.
Carmela births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Carmela peaked earlier, in 1923.
- Steepest fall: Between 1932 and 1937, Carmela's share of baby girls fell by 44%.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Carmela's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Carmela.
Decade by decade
Babies named Carmela 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 | 2,615 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 2,885 | 0 | #406 |
| 1940s | 1,731 | 0 | #585 |
| 1950s | 1,720 | 0 | #788 |
| 1960s | 2,091 | 0 | #715 |
| 1970s | 1,400 | 0 | #831 |
| 1980s | 895 | 5 | #1,373 |
| 1990s | 674 | 0 | #1,986 |
| 2000s | 1,005 | 0 | #1,625 |
| 2010s | 1,131 | 0 | #1,832 |
| 2020–25 | 951 | 0 | #1,219 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
28.9% of babies named Carmela from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Carmela is most popular
The index compares Carmela'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 Carmela.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 5.76× | 5,942 |
| New Jersey | 4.29× | 1,606 |
| Connecticut | 2.95× | 435 |
| Pennsylvania | 1.67× | 1,153 |
| Massachusetts | 1.31× | 423 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Carmela 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Carmela (this page) | 17,098 | 1923 |
| Carmella | 14,761 | 1922 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Carmela's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Carmela.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Carmela (1923).
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