U.S. first-name statistics

How common is Carol?

Carol was the #68 most frequent first name in the 2020 Census.

People with the first name Carol

614,466

About 1 in 539 Americans had this first name in the 2020 Census.

Measured, privacy-protected national Census count—not a total of historical baby-name records.

National rank

#68

More common than 99.9% of listed first names

Peak year

1946

34,458 SSA-recorded births

2025 births

82

#4,053 across first names

Census frequency

1 in 539

Across the 2020 U.S. population

Sex distribution

Reported in the 2020 Census first-name table.

0.4% male99.6% female

Demographic distribution

Aggregated race and Hispanic-origin reporting in the 2020 Census name table.

White, non-Hispanic88.8%
Black, non-Hispanic5.07%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.53%
Asian / Pacific Islander1.28%
Two or more races1.57%
Hispanic or Latino2.79%

Reading the result

Carol across two different records

The Census count answers “how many people had this name?” using a national snapshot of living residents in 2020. The SSA series answers “when was this name popular?” using Social Security card applications associated with births.

Carol reached its highest published annual SSA count in 1946, with 34,458 recorded births. In 2025, SSA recorded 82 babies with the name.

Names do not determine a person’s identity. Demographic percentages above describe national aggregates and should never be applied to an individual.

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