Girls' name · peaked in 1945
Carol name popularity since 1925
809,222 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Carol (99.1% girls, 0.9% boys). Half of them were born in 1949 or earlier, so the typical Carol is about 77 years old in 2026. Carol peaked in 1945 as the #5 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 809,222
- Named Carol, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,242 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.1% girls
- 801,871 girls · 7,351 boys
- Most popular in
- North Dakota
- 1.84× its national share
Peak year is the year Carol 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.
Carol births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1946. Measured as a share of all babies, Carol peaked in 1945.
- Fastest rise: Between 1931 and 1936, Carol became 3× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 1969 and 1974, its share of baby girls fell by 62%, from 1 in 275 to 1 in 720.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Carol's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Carol.
Decade by decade
Babies named Carol 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 | 14,984 | 949 | – |
| 1930s | 117,731 | 2,481 | #11 |
| 1940s | 292,333 | 1,958 | #5 |
| 1950s | 222,656 | 914 | #15 |
| 1960s | 112,333 | 571 | #42 |
| 1970s | 23,477 | 212 | #150 |
| 1980s | 8,808 | 173 | #292 |
| 1990s | 4,952 | 60 | #525 |
| 2000s | 2,727 | 33 | #758 |
| 2010s | 1,379 | 0 | #1,770 |
| 2020–25 | 491 | 0 | #2,242 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
52.1% of babies named Carol from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Carol is most popular
The index compares Carol'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 Carol.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | 1.84× | 4,725 |
| South Dakota | 1.83× | 4,742 |
| Rhode Island | 1.78× | 5,130 |
| Wisconsin | 1.66× | 26,581 |
| Montana | 1.59× | 3,789 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Carol 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Carol (this page) | 801,871 | 1945 |
| Karol | 9,668 | 2005 |
| Caryl | 5,754 | 1935 |
| Caroll | 1,270 | 1946 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Carol's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Carol.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Carol (1945).
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