BabyNameLens · Girl names · Boy names
“Variant of Carl — Free man” — Germanic (Old Norse) origin
Girl's name · #1083 in the US (2025) · Retro
Carla reached #76 in 1965 and has faded to #1083 since. About 150,000 girls have carried it since 1890. Carly is a short form of Carla. Together with its spelling variant Karla (#803), Carla would rank around #537 with about 560 births last year — the newborns split about 60/40 between Karla and Carla.
Around the world: #15 in Spain (2024).
Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 20 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.
Among 1,546 notable people named Carla:
Entertainers appear 1.61× more often than among typical names — e.g. Carla Bruni, Italian and French singer, model and spouse of former president of France.
Similar names: Karla · Wendy · Karly · Darla · Belinda · Carol
Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.