Carolina is a girl name with a modern feel, drawn from real birth records. Below you'll find what Carolina means and where it comes from, plus how many babies have been named Carolina across the United States, UK, Ireland and New Zealand, how popular Carolina has been over the decades, and the year it peaked.
Carolina is a girl name of Germanic origin meaning “free woman”. A Latinate feminine form of Charles, related to Caroline.
| Country | Births on record |
|---|---|
| United States since 1880 | 48,108 births |
| England & Wales since 1996 | 712 births |
| Scotland since 1974 | 11 births |
| Ireland since 1964 | 70 births |
Counts come from official national birth-registration statistics: U.S. Social Security Administration, England & Wales (Office for National Statistics), Scotland (National Records of Scotland), Northern Ireland (NISRA), Ireland (Central Statistics Office) and New Zealand (Dept. of Internal Affairs). Coverage spans differ, so totals aren't directly comparable across countries.
Babies named Carolina per year, United States (1880 to 2025). United States peaked in 2004 (1,270/yr) · England & Wales peaked in 2015 (44/yr) · Ireland peaked in 2009 (6/yr) · Scotland peaked in 2017 (5/yr).
Carolina has been a fairly common baby name in the United States. It was most common in 2004, when it ranked #518 nationally (given to 1,287 babies that year).
Carolyn · Caroline · Carlene · Carolann · Carolynn · Karolyn · Coraline · Carolyne
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