Carrie
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 · Latinate feminine form of Carolus (see Charles, from karl "man"); the two American states were named for King Charles I
Carrie around the world
One shared root links 24 names across 7 languages.
Shared root: from Germanic karl "man", Latinized as Carolus and spread everywhere by Charlemagne's fame
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.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Carrie peaked in the 1890s and the 1970s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
31 people · the #92,291 first name in Brazil · median age 17
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
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.
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.
Keep exploring
Does Carrie fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Carrie to your family’s tree →