Carly
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Meaning
feminine form of Carl, from Germanic karl, "man"
The story
Carly begins with a linguistic surprise. It is a feminine form of Carl, whose old Germanic root karl meant “man,” yet two women with unmistakable voices gave Carly its strongest American associations. Carly Simon made the name sound sophisticated, candid, and a little mysterious in the 1970s. A generation later, Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen attached it to bright, immediate pop. The record's first American entries appear alongside Simon's recording career, and the later stretch overlaps Jepsen's fame, but those timings are associations rather than proof of cause. What matters is the conversation between the bearers. One Carly wrote songs that seemed to know more than they revealed; another built choruses that introduced themselves in seconds. Together they let the name span singer-songwriter intimacy and dance-floor exuberance. Carly is friendly without being slight, and its y ending keeps the old Carl root from feeling formal. A word once meaning man became a modern girls' name carried by women who sounded entirely like themselves.
Carly across languages
One shared root links 24 names across 7 languages.
Shared root: traditionally linked to Germanic karl, meaning "man"; Latin form Carolus
The constellation
16 more branches of this family
How popular is Carly around the world?
In the United States, 2,201 babies were named Carly between 2020 and 2025. In Scotland, 5 girls named Carly were registered in 2024, the 541st most common name among girls that year.
Carly is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, South Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Mexico City, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 9,900
In the United States, 2,201 babies were named Carly between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Carly peaked in the 1990s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Scotland
1 in 9,200
In Scotland, 5 girls named Carly were registered in 2024, the 541st most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Carly in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 20,000
In Canada, 18 girls named Carly were born in 2024, ranked 1,349th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 84,000
In England and Wales, 7 girls named Carly were born in 2025, ranked 3,333rd among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Mexico City City
1 in 120,000
In Mexico City, there was 1 registration of Carly in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Brazil
1 in 500,000
At the 2022 census, 341 people in Brazil were named Carly, ranked 17,419th, with a median age of 42.
Among people named Carly living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 1.7M
In Spain, 26 residents are named Carly, ranked 24,679th among women, with a mean age of 30.4 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Austria
last on record 2023
Carly is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
France
last on record 2024
Carly is not on the 2025 record for France, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Ireland
last on record 2024
Carly is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Montevideo City
last on record 1976
Carly is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Carly is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
New Zealand
last on record 2018
Carly is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Not on the record in Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Carly
Most people given the name Carly in the United States were born between 1990 and 2009. The Carly you meet today is most often in her 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Carly deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Carly truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Carly fits with your family’s names and surname.
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