Recorded 1951–2025 · United States
Carly was most popular in 1995, when 2,585 American babies were given the name — ranking #258 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,931, with 248 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 66,626 people named Carly.
Carly first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1951, which makes it about 74 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 60 of the 75 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 66,626 American births named Carly 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 65,503 are estimated to be alive today.
248 American babies were named Carly in 2025, ranking #1,931 that year.
Carly is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 346 births a year, against 1,034 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -67% 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 Carly is a girl’s name — 99.8% of the 66,626 Americans given it were girls and 0.2% 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 65,503 Americans named Carly are alive today — 98% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 29 years old, and half are between 20 and 36.
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 Carly on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org