Recorded 1911–2025 · United States
Karol was most popular in 2005, when 448 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,160 that year. In 2025 it ranked #5,994, with 45 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 11,131 people named Karol.
Karol first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1911, which makes it about 114 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 113 of the 115 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 11,131 American births named Karol 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 8,811 are estimated to be alive today.
45 American babies were named Karol in 2025, ranking #5,994 that year.
Karol is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 55 births a year, against 116 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -53% 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 Karol is mostly a girl’s name — 87.1% of the 11,131 Americans given it were girls and 12.9% were boys. It changed hands: since 1932 it has gone mainly to girls, having gone mainly to boys before that. In births since 2016 it is 87% girls and 13% 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 8,811 Americans named Karol are alive today — 79% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 60 years old, and half are between 21 and 72. That is a wide band, the mark of a name in steady use across generations rather than a passing fashion.
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.
A variant of Carol · Germanic · feminine of Charles, "free"
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Karol on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org