How Many People Are Named Carey?
An estimated 23,037 people in the United States have the first name Carey. It is used for both genders, with 57.0% male. The average bearer is 54 years old, and Carey peaked in popularity in 1975 with 1,058 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Carey as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Carey paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Carey is a genuinely unisex name, given to both boys and girls in roughly equal numbers.
Estimated Living Americans
23,037
About 1 in 14,878 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
57.0% confidence
Average Age
54
years old
Peak Year
1975
1,058 births
Total Registered
29,607
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Carey
Carey is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (57.0%) and females (43.0%). Out of 29,607 total births registered, 16,865 were male and 12,742 were female.
Carey as a male name
Ranked #5,258 in 2024
18 male births in 2024
Peak: 1957 (461 births)
Carey as a female name
Ranked #15,686 in 2024
5 female births in 2024
Peak: 1975 (756 births)
Carey: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Carey span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1970s, when 8,371 babies were registered. Carey has declined significantly from its peak in the 1970s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Carey by Decade
How has Carey tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 150 | 144 | 6 | |
| 1890s | 168 | 151 | 17 | |
| 1900s | 175 | 157 | 18 | |
| 1910s | 617 | 520 | 97 | |
| 1920s | 824 | 705 | 119 | |
| 1930s | 931 | 787 | 144 | |
| 1940s | 1,855 | 1,559 | 296 | |
| 1950s | 4,831 | 3,649 | 1,182 | |
| 1960s | 5,347 | 3,288 | 2,059 | |
| 1970s | 8,371 | 2,766 | 5,605 | |
| 1980s | 3,630 | 1,604 | 2,026 | |
| 1990s | 1,683 | 887 | 796 | |
| 2000s | 597 | 351 | 246 | |
| 2010s | 338 | 237 | 101 | |
| 2020s | 90 | 60 | 30 | |
Carey by State
Birth registrations for Carey span all 45 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, Georgia. The lowest are in South Dakota, New Hampshire, Hawaii. On average, about 476 Careys were registered per state.
Carey + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Carey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Carey
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
Carey: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carey?
We estimate approximately 23,037 people named Carey are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 14,878 Americans share this first name.
Is Carey a common name?
Carey is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.6% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 29,607 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Carey most popular?
Carey reached peak popularity in 1975, when 1,058 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Carey is approximately 54 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Carey a male name?
Carey is predominantly male. 57.0% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Carey Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Carey Smith, Carey Johnson, Carey Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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