Carolyn

Primarily a girl's name · 100% girls

Meaning

Carolyn is a female given name, a variant of Caroline. Other spellings include Carolin, Karolyn, Carolyne, Carolynn or Carolynne. Caroline itself is one of the feminine forms of Charles.

From Wikipedia

Carolyn first appears in the data in 1880 and has been recorded in 145 different years as a girl's name. Its single biggest year was 1947 with 20,741 babies (rank #15 that year). In 2024 it was given to 206 girls (rank #1,163). The name has been declining over the last five years.

Numerology of Carolyn

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Carolyn yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

7Destiny numberThe seekerIntrospective, analytical, drawn to the unknown.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
5Soul urgeThe free spiritCurious, restless, energised by change.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
2PersonalityThe peacemakerDiplomatic, sensitive, partnership-minded.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

558,213

Total babies (all years)

145

Years in the data

20,741

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Girls

Famous people named Carolyn

Carolyn Bertozzibiochemist · b. 1966
Carolyn S. Shoemakeruniversity teacher · b. 1929
Carolyn Porcoplanetary scientist · b. 1953
Carolyn Jonesfilm actor · b. 1930
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedypublic relations consultant · b. 1966

Share your Carolyn story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

More popular girls' names

Names ranked near Carolyn in 2024

Other girls' names starting with C

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all girls' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1880	80	#163
1881	60	#195
1882	62	#217
1883	58	#234
1884	75	#218
1885	86	#209
1886	82	#222
1887	97	#208
1888	123	#203
1889	133	#199
1890	124	#217
1891	110	#230
1892	122	#239
1893	146	#211
1894	147	#219
1895	148	#227
1896	149	#227
1897	145	#227
1898	169	#225
1899	141	#231
1900	185	#231
1901	148	#237
1902	179	#224
1903	157	#241
1904	183	#227
1905	210	#213
1906	184	#235
1907	184	#254
1908	280	#200
1909	299	#194
1910	331	#199
1911	387	#185
1912	517	#189
1913	676	#170
1914	835	#169
1915	1,096	#168
1916	1,216	#163
1917	1,223	#164
1918	1,329	#167
1919	1,330	#165
1920	1,556	#150
1921	1,753	#146
1922	1,706	#144
1923	2,010	#132
1924	2,222	#127
1925	2,189	#127
1926	2,415	#114
1927	2,806	#99
1928	2,847	#91
1929	3,272	#77
1930	3,725	#72
1931	4,008	#60
1932	4,587	#46
1933	5,042	#41
1934	6,473	#33
1935	6,967	#28
1936	7,907	#23
1937	8,940	#20
1938	10,586	#15
1939	11,290	#14
1940	12,657	#15
1941	16,273	#11
1942	19,977	#10
1943	20,364	#11
1944	18,670	#11
1945	17,244	#12
1946	19,902	#12
1947	20,741	#15
1948	18,623	#14
1949	17,404	#17
1950	15,587	#20
1951	15,208	#22
1952	14,272	#24
1953	12,918	#25
1954	12,153	#27
1955	11,178	#30
1956	10,634	#33
1957	11,575	#33
1958	10,816	#37
1959	9,726	#42
1960	9,402	#43
1961	10,509	#42
1962	9,693	#46
1963	8,124	#56
1964	8,066	#56
1965	6,966	#58
1966	6,120	#60
1967	5,719	#60
1968	5,538	#61
1969	5,130	#71
1970	4,518	#84
1971	3,610	#104
1972	2,993	#110
1973	2,568	#116
1974	2,472	#118
1975	2,346	#119
1976	2,115	#129
1977	2,197	#129
1978	2,176	#130
1979	2,053	#138
1980	1,929	#147
1981	1,959	#144
1982	2,009	#146
1983	1,914	#150
1984	1,825	#155
1985	1,837	#155
1986	1,733	#162
1987	1,813	#149
1988	1,802	#159
1989	1,809	#158
1990	1,714	#169
1991	1,559	#193
1992	1,518	#196
1993	1,479	#200
1994	1,230	#230
1995	1,175	#242
1996	1,211	#233
1997	1,061	#276
1998	901	#327
1999	1,037	#297
2000	1,031	#308
2001	870	#346
2002	822	#365
2003	701	#430
2004	731	#418
2005	626	#489
2006	587	#517
2007	495	#606
2008	448	#678
2009	426	#682
2010	378	#736
2011	371	#742
2012	360	#765
2013	347	#784
2014	375	#747
2015	377	#748
2016	352	#809
2017	326	#833
2018	313	#865
2019	282	#936
2020	270	#947
2021	218	#1,129
2022	194	#1,239
2023	228	#1,084
2024	206	#1,163