Caroline

“Variant of Charles — Free man” — Germanic, via French origin

Girl's name · #96 in the US (2025) · Heirloom

Caroline reached its best rank, #55, in 2017 and ranked #96 in 2025. About 250,000 girls have carried it since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records. Caroline's short forms are Carrie, Cal, Cary, Callie, and Caro. About 1,700 girls a year are given Callie as their full name.

Around the world: about 1 in 1,100 girls in Austria (2025) · about 1 in 2,100 girls in Ireland (2025) · about 1 in 2,600 girls in Canada (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 49 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Carolines

Caroline Wozniacki — Danish tennis player
Caroline Herschel — German-British astronomer (1750-1848)
Caroline Kennedy — American author and diplomat (born 1957)
Caroline of Ansbach — Queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland from 1727 to 1737
Caroline Bonaparte — Queen of Naples and Sicily (1782-1839)

In stories & tradition

Caroline Reynolds — Prison Break
Caroline Forbes — The Vampire Diaries · Pilot
Caroline Spencer — The Bold and the Beautiful

What Carolines become

Among 3,745 notable people named Caroline:

Medical professionals appear 1.57× more often than among typical names — e.g. Caroline Still Anderson, American physician, educator, and activist (1848–1919).

Similar names: Carolina · Autumn · Katherine · Madeline · Audrey · Claire

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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