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The first name 
Caroline

Caroline is a female first name. In very rare cases it is also used for boys.

The name Caroline is very popular!

The first name Caroline is one of the top 100 most popular girls names in the US – currently at #64 in our SmartGenius ranking. Over 1,000 babies each year are named Caroline, accounting for approximately 0.20 % of all newborn girls. In the entire USA, approximately 225,684 people – children, adults and seniors – currently bear the name Caroline. That is 0.07 % of all living Americans.

You won't believe all there is 
to discover about the name
 
Caroline

What does the name 
Caroline mean?

If you want to know what Caroline means, you have to look at the name Karl. The origin of the first name Karl is disputed, but the derivation from the Old High German word ‘karal’ for ‘man, husband, lover’ is particularly common. However, the name may also derive from the Old High German word ‘heri’, which would give a meaning of ‘army, war band’. Mostly the meanings ‘the free’ or ‘the capable’ are attributed to Karl, and therefore to Caroline as well.

Old High German... is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 500/750 AD to 1050 AD. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, so, Old High German is an umbrella term for the group of continental West Germanic dialects.

Some very strong women are called Caroline.

Politician and President's Daughter

Caroline Kennedy (*1957)
The American author, attorney, and diplomat Caroline Bouvier Kennedy is the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. During the Obama administration, she served as the United States Ambassador to Japan (2013 2017) and in 2022, was confirmed as the United States Ambassador to Australia in the Biden administration. Throughout her life, Kennedy has been active in politics, education, and the arts, and is recognized as one of the most prominent members of the Kennedy family.

Great Scandinavian Tennis Player

Caroline Wozniacki (*1990)
Caroline Wozniacki is a retired Danish tennis player who was ranked former World No. 1 in singles, and won 30 WTA singles titles during her career, including the Australian Open in 2018. Wozniacki is considered one of the greatest tennis players from Denmark and one of the best female players of her generation moreover she was the first woman from a Scandinavian country to hold the top position she achieved in 2010.

A British Parliament Member

Caroline Lucas (*1960)
The British politician Caroline Patricia Lucas became a member of Parliament (MP) for the Green Party of England and Wales in the 2010 general election - and has since been re-elected in 2015, 2017 and 2019. Lucas is known for her advocacy for environmental protection, social justice, and peace, and has been a prominent figure in the UK Green movement for many years. She joined the Green Party in 1986.

TV Celebrity and Entrepreneur

Caroline Manzo (*1961)
Caroline Manzo (née Laurita) is an American television personality and businesswoman. She received wider recognition through her role on the reality show 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey' (2009 - 2013). She was part of the shows main cast for the first five seasons. Subsequently she had a spin-off series about her family called 'Manzo'd with Children' (2014 - 2016). In addition to her television career, Manzo is a successful entrepreneur and runs several businesses and is known for her philanthropic work.

Go on a journey to places 
with your name

When you hear the name Caroline, you might first think of a woman or a girl. But did you know that there are also places with the name Caroline? Are you also called Caroline? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...

A Bluff in Antarctica

In the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, there is a headland called Caroline Bluff. It was first charted in 1921 and named for the sealing vessel Caroline.

In Setauket, New York,...

you can find the historic Caroline Church and Cemetery. The church was build in 1729 while the cemetary was established in 1934.

Two Counties in the U.S.

Two Counties in the U.S. are named Caroline. You can find them in the states Maryland and Virgina.

Hurricane Caroline

In August 1975, a tropical cyclone named Caroline affected northern Mexico. It reached a peak intensity with winds of 115 mph.

Visit some landmarks of Baltimore...

while using the Caroline Street Line (Bus Route 21). It runs through Caroline Street and passes some sights of the city.

A Town in New York

Caroline is the name of a town in Tompkins County, New York. Its population is about 3,300 and it is loacted at the county's southeast border.

Caroline -
someone you can count on

Caroline is the epitome of persistance. Every single year since first names have been registered in the United States, parents have come up with the idea of naming their daughter Caroline. This means that several girls and women named Caroline have witnessed major events such as the first Nobel Prize ceremony, the moon landing, the release of the first cell phone, or the turn of the millennium. The first name Caroline has reached its best rank of 55 several times, most recently in 2018. Moreover, the name has been in the top 100 numerous times. This makes Caroline one of the most popular names of all time.

In years where the graph has no value, the name Caroline was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.

Caroline in 2022 - still quite popular

Caroline will be Caroline. Like every other year, there were newborns named Caroline in 2022 – in fact 3,015 to be precise, confirming Caroline is still a very popular first name. In this most recent year for which US-wide statistics are available, the name ranked #77 among all girls‘ names. Incidentally, the least popular year for Caroline was 1956, when only 701 baby girls were named Caroline.

Caroline -
well known in all states of the USA, most popular in South Carolina

There are only 537 different women’s names registered in every single state in the U.S., and Caroline is one of them. However, Caroline is not equally widespread in all states, but people in South Carolina seem to particularly fancy this name – the 6,212 women called Caroline who live here are 0,282% of all female residents and push their name up to #81, easily placing it in the top 100 most common female names in South Carolina.

Caroline has 8 letters 
and begins with a C

Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter C is a frequent initial letter for girls' names. This is because 6.0% of all common girls’ names in the US begin with this letter. The most common first letters of girls' names, by the way, are A, S and M.

With eight letters, the name Caroline is long compared to other names. In fact, 14.5% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly eight letters. 78% of all first names are shorter, while only 8% of all boys’ and girls’ names use nine letters or even more. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long with no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.

That means that with 6.0% of all girls' names that begin with a C, this first letter is much more common than the average of all letters. And which girls’ name beginning with C do you think is the most common in the US? The answer is... Carol.

Other names with 
C, a, r, o, l, i, n and e

If you take all the letters in the name Caroline – C, a, r, o, l, i, n and e – and put them together again, you can form other names, such as Coraline or Cornelia.

With hands, flags and sounds 
How to say Caroline

If your name is Caroline and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...

This is how you spell the name Caroline

So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Caroline, you can simply say:

Cat

Apple

Rocket

Orange

Lion

Igloo

Nut

Elephant

This is how the name Caroline is spelled in the NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO alphabet often helps people spell words on the phone or radio when there are communication problems.

How do you write Caroline in Braille?

Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.

Caroline

Caroline

You want to tell a deaf person that your name is Caroline

Just use American Sign Language!

The name Caroline is particularly colorful in the Semaphore flag signaling system!

These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.

C
A
R
O
L
I
N
E

Have you ever waved the name Caroline

In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.

C
A
R
O
L
I
N
E

Beeping like crazy...

In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Caroline sounds like this: