Carrie
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Meaning
diminutive of Caroline, from Charles (Germanic karl, 'man'); immortalized by Carrie White in Carrie (1976)
The story
Carrie began as an affectionate short form of Caroline, the feminine of Carl, and so it carries that old Germanic root karl, a plain word for man. Victorian Americans loved it as a name in its own right: it opens the records near its height in the 1890s, drifts through midcentury, then rises again to a second peak in the 1970s. That same decade handed the name its most famous and least comfortable bearer: Carrie White, the tormented telekinetic teenager of Stephen King's first published novel and the 1976 film that followed, prom night, pig's blood and all. Curiously, the horror did not dent the name; it was at its modern best in exactly those years. The slide came later, gradual and unhurried, and today Carrie reads as friendly, capable and a little retro, a name waiting comfortably for its next act.
The formal names behind Carrie
Carrie is an established short form of each of these names.
Caroline · French origin · French feminine form of Charles (Germanic karl, 'man'); famously borne by Princess Caroline of Hanover, Monaco
Carolina · Portuguese origin · feminine form of Carolus, the Latin form of Charles, from the Germanic word karl, "man"; North Carolina and South Carolina take their names from King Charles I
Carrie 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
Carrie in song
Carrie
Europe (1986)
The piano ballad tucked onto The Final Countdown, which went on to become a top three American hit in 1987 and the slow dance of a thousand school gyms.
How popular is Carrie around the world?
In the United States, 413 babies were named Carrie between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Carrie in 2017.
Carrie is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, England and Wales, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 53,000
In the United States, 413 babies were named Carrie between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Carrie peaked in the 1890s and the 1970s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Carrie 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
England and Wales
1 in 53,000
In England and Wales, 11 girls named Carrie were born in 2025, ranked 2,440th 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
Spain
1 in 1.8M
In Spain, 25 residents are named Carrie, ranked 25,560th among women, with a mean age of 38.5 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 2016
Carrie 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 2 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)
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 31 people in Brazil were named Carrie, ranked 92,291st, with a median age of 17.
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
Canada
last on record 2023
Carrie is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
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)
Chile
last on record 2019
Carrie is not on the 2021 record for Chile, where nametree keeps the spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Ireland
last on record 2024
Carrie 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 2000
Carrie 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 2 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 Zealand
last on record 1992
Carrie 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
Scotland
last on record 2021
Carrie is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
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
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births 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 Carrie
Most people given the name Carrie in the United States were born between 1960 and 1989. The Carrie you meet today is most often in her 40s or 50s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Carrie deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Carrie 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 Carrie fits with your family’s names and surname.
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