Recorded 1905–2025 · United States
Carlin was most popular in 1998, when 107 American babies were given the name — ranking #2,673 that year. In 2025 it ranked #7,878, with 30 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 4,565 people named Carlin.
Carlin first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1905, which makes it about 120 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 114 of the 121 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 4,565 American births named Carlin 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 3,947 are estimated to be alive today.
30 American babies were named Carlin in 2025, ranking #7,878 that year.
Carlin is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 35 births a year, against 60 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -42% 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 Carlin is a unisex name — 42.5% of the 4,565 Americans given it were girls and 57.5% were boys. It changed hands: since 2020 it has gone mainly to girls, having gone mainly to boys before that. In births since 2016 it is 49% girls and 51% 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 3,947 Americans named Carlin are alive today — 86% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 31 years old, and half are between 19 and 45.
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 Carlin on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org