How Many People Are Named Caroline?
An estimated 187,040 people in the United States have the first name Caroline. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #288 overall. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 31 years old, and Caroline peaked in popularity in 2000 with 5,029 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Caroline 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 Caroline paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Caroline is overwhelmingly female, 309 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
187,040
About 1 in 1,833 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.9% confidence
Average Age
31
years old
Peak Year
2000
5,029 births
Total Registered
248,055
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Caroline
Caroline is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 248,055 total births registered, 99.9% were female.
Caroline as a male name
Ranked #10,938 in 2014
6 male births in 2014
Peak: 1989 (30 births)
Caroline as a female name
Ranked #92 in 2024
2,720 female births in 2024
Peak: 2000 (5,022 births)
Caroline: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Caroline span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2000s, when 41,893 babies were registered. While Caroline is less common than at its peak in the 2000s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Caroline by Decade
How has Caroline 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 | 3,743 | 0 | 3,743 | |
| 1890s | 4,505 | 5 | 4,500 | |
| 1900s | 4,276 | 0 | 4,276 | |
| 1910s | 10,603 | 12 | 10,591 | |
| 1920s | 12,707 | 13 | 12,694 | |
| 1930s | 10,867 | 23 | 10,844 | |
| 1940s | 11,638 | 13 | 11,625 | |
| 1950s | 8,985 | 0 | 8,985 | |
| 1960s | 16,794 | 21 | 16,773 | |
| 1970s | 12,321 | 34 | 12,287 | |
| 1980s | 18,034 | 90 | 17,944 | |
| 1990s | 36,872 | 45 | 36,827 | |
| 2000s | 41,893 | 47 | 41,846 | |
| 2010s | 39,636 | 6 | 39,630 | |
| 2020s | 15,181 | 0 | 15,181 | |
Caroline by State
Birth registrations for Caroline span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, California, Texas. The lowest are in Wyoming, Alaska, Idaho. On average, about 4,573 Carolines were registered per state.
Caroline + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Caroline as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Caroline
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
Caroline: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caroline?
We estimate approximately 187,040 people named Caroline 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 1,833 Americans share this first name.
Is Caroline a common name?
Caroline is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.7% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 248,055 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Caroline most popular?
Caroline reached peak popularity in 2000, when 5,029 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Caroline is approximately 31 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Caroline a female name?
Caroline is predominantly female. 99.9% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Caroline Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Caroline Smith, Caroline Johnson, Caroline 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.
Search for a full name combination
How Many of Me