A LITTLE UNCOMMON. ENTIRELY YOURS.
Meaning, origin and pronunciation, with published usage by place and year.
Checking your saved choices…
Share this name or preview its baby card in Discover.
Free man, through the Charles-linked Germanic root.
Caroline belongs to the feminine Charles name family. The Germanic root behind Charles is glossed free man; this explains the older word history rather than the gender or personality of a bearer. The licensed song-of-happiness account remains uncorroborated here.
French feminine name with Germanic ancestry through Latin and the Charles name family.
English borrowed Caroline from French, whose name traces through Italian Carolina or Latin Carolina to Carolus, the Latin form of Charles.
/ˈkæɹ.əˌlaɪn/; /ˈkæɹ.əˌlɪn/; General American /ˈkɛɹ.əˌlaɪn/
Recorded English personal-name readings include both KARR-uh-line and KARR-uh-lin, with regional variation in the first vowel. Ask the bearer which ending they use. These come from the given-name section, not the separate historical adjective.
Recorded English reading, as published. Accents and preferred pronunciations can differ.
Counts apply only to the exact spelling, place, year and recorded usage shown. Places are separate; these figures are never added into a worldwide total. Missing or suppressed records never mean zero.
| Place | Year | Recorded usage | Published births | Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 2025 | Girls | 57 · preliminary | 533 | 2025 figures are preliminary. Quebec counts below five are randomly imputed by the publisher before national aggregation. Accents are removed in the source; this profile was matched only where the catalog spelling was unambiguous. Unpublished values are unknown, not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| France | 2025 | Girls | 40 (rounded to 5) | 964 | Counts are rounded to the nearest multiple of five. Ranks use unrounded publisher counts with randomly ordered ties; equally rounded counts can have different ranks. National coverage excludes Mayotte before 2012. Missing years are unavailable, not zero. Automated direction labels are withheld for this rounded-count series. Rank basis: source published. |
| England & Wales | 2025 | Girls | 25 | 1271 | Published ranks differ from ranks calculated over visible rows. Counts retained; automated trend labels withheld. Rank basis: source published. |
| Northern Ireland | 2015 | Girls | 4 | 358 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| Scotland | 2019 | Girls | 3 | 765 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| Ireland | 2025 | Girls | 10 | 381 | Names below three occurrences are unpublished. Accent recording changed in 2018; comparisons across that boundary may not describe the same spelling coverage. Counts refer to registrations in the year. Missing years are unavailable, not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| United States | 2025 | Girls | 2,646 | 96 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: calculated from published counts. |
| United States | 2014 | Boys | 6 | 10717 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: calculated from published counts. |
Canada, Ireland and France coverage includes confidently matched existing profiles only; unmatched spellings are awaiting review. French counts are rounded to five.
Open an entry for its source, credit, licence and full qualifications. Different name traditions remain separate.
Checked against cited source
The exact Danish personal-name section documents this language use. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The exact Dutch personal-name section documents this language use. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The exact English personal-name section documents this language use. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The exact French personal-name section documents this language use. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The exact German personal-name section documents this language use. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
Caroline belongs to the feminine Charles name family. The Germanic root behind Charles is glossed free man; this explains the older word history rather than the gender or personality of a bearer. The licensed song-of-happiness account remains uncorroborated here. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline, Charles entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645; https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Charles&oldid=93570266. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
Recorded French personal-name reading, separate from the English variants. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The exact English Cal entry explicitly records a short form of Caroline. These are alternative naming traditions, not a single shared literal meaning. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Cal entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Cal&oldid=92636919. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
Callie is explicitly documented as a diminutive of Caroline. This is an optional longer-name connection, not a requirement to use that legal name. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Callie entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Callie&oldid=92412391. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The English personal-name entry explicitly lists Carey as a pet form of Caroline. Other parent-name connections for the short form remain distinct. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The English personal-name entry explicitly lists Caro as a pet form of Caroline. Other parent-name connections for the short form remain distinct. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The English personal-name entry explicitly lists Carol as a pet form of Caroline. Other parent-name connections for the short form remain distinct. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The English personal-name entry explicitly lists Carrie as a pet form of Caroline. Other parent-name connections for the short form remain distinct. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The English personal-name entry explicitly lists Cary as a pet form of Caroline. Other parent-name connections for the short form remain distinct. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The English personal-name entry explicitly lists Lina as a pet form of Caroline. Other parent-name connections for the short form remain distinct. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
English borrowed Caroline from French, whose name traces through Italian Carolina or Latin Carolina to Carolus, the Latin form of Charles. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline, Charles entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645; https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Charles&oldid=93570266. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
Recorded English personal-name readings include both KARR-uh-line and KARR-uh-lin, with regional variation in the first vowel. Ask the bearer which ending they use. These come from the given-name section, not the separate historical adjective. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
These forms belong to the documented Swedish given-name tradition; country usage and statistical spellings remain distinct.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
Three syllables in the documented English personal-name readings. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The English personal-name entry explicitly lists Carolyn as a variant. Their popularity series remain separate. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Caroline entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Caroline&oldid=92637645. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
View statistics source (link unavailable)
View statistics source (link unavailable)
View statistics source (link unavailable)
Attribution: Source: NISRA : Website: www.nisra.gov.uk
License: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: (C) Crown copyright. Data supplied by National Records of Scotland.
License: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence
License: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: U.S. Social Security Administration
Credit: Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0147-01, 1991–2025, released 23 September 2026.
License: Statistics Canada Open Licence
Adaptation: Adapted from Statistics Canada, First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators, Table 17-10-0147-01, reference years 1991–2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
Credit: Central Statistics Office, Ireland, VSA50 and VSA60, updated 27 February 2026.
License: CC BY 4.0
Adaptation: Adapted by Rare Baby Names: joined the published count and rank indicators and matched unambiguous existing spellings. Source values retained.
Credit: Source : Insee, Fichier des prénoms, updated 16 July 2026.
License: Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab)
Adaptation: Adapted by Rare Baby Names: column names and sex codes mapped and unique case-only spellings matched to existing profiles. Published rounded counts and ranks retained.
