Caroline

Caroline: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “free woman”
Origin: French
Say it: KAIR-uh-line · 3 syllables
Used for: Girls

French feminine form of Carolus, the Latin form of Charles, ultimately from Germanic Karl. Common variants include Carolina and Carolyn.

French names English names German names Names meaning noble Classic names Royal names International names

How popular is Caroline?

2024817 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Caroline in 20242,720

2024 rank#92 girls

Peak year1889

Total US babies since 1880248,055

Caroline has been fairly stable over the last fifteen years.

Names like Caroline

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Charlottefree man · French
Charlesfree man · Germanic
Charleyfree man · English
Carolynfree man · English
Lottiefree man · English
Carlofree man · Germanic
Carriefree man · Germanic
Charlenefree woman · Germanic

Caroline questions

What does the name Caroline mean?

Caroline means "free woman". It comes from French. French feminine form of Carolus, the Latin form of Charles, ultimately from Germanic Karl. Common variants include Carolina and Carolyn.

Is Caroline a boy or girl name?

Caroline is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Caroline?

2,720 US babies were named Caroline in 2024. Its peak year was 1889.

How do you pronounce Caroline?

Caroline is usually pronounced KAIR-uh-line.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.