Recorded 1890–2025 · United States
Carla was most popular in 1961, when 5,829 American babies were given the name — ranking #148 that year. In 2025 it ranked #2,055, with 223 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 150,815 people named Carla.
Carla first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1890, which makes it about 135 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 126 of the 136 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 150,815 American births named Carla between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 132,192 are estimated to be alive today.
223 American babies were named Carla in 2025, ranking #2,055 that year.
Carla is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 251 births a year, against 335 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -25% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Carla is a girl’s name — 99.7% of the 150,815 Americans given it were girls and 0.3% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 132,192 Americans named Carla are alive today — 88% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 59 years old, and half are between 46 and 66.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Germanic · feminine of Carl, "free"
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Carla on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org