Recorded 1895–2025 · United States
Carlene was most popular in 1955, when 370 American babies were given the name — ranking #838 that year. In 2025 it ranked #24,763, with 5 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 15,225 people named Carlene.
Carlene first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1895, which makes it about 130 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 122 of the 131 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 15,225 American births named Carlene 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 10,201 are estimated to be alive today.
5 American babies were named Carlene in 2025, ranking #24,763 that year.
Carlene is too rare for a direction to mean much. It averaged 10 births a year across 2021–2025 against 19 a year a decade earlier — at these counts a single baby moves the percentage, and any year under five births is withheld at source.
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 Carlene is a girl’s name — 100.0% of the 15,225 Americans given it were girls and 0.0% 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 10,201 Americans named Carlene are alive today — 67% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 67 years old, and half are between 53 and 76.
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.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Carlene on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org