Carol

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled קרול in FR France, IL Israel, Karol in LA Laos and Carole in NZ New Zealand.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 16 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Carol is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name1.1M records spelled Carol28 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, France, Peru

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French

  Also written Cäröl, Cárol, Càrol, Caról, Cärol

• a separate given name377K records spelled Carol3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Càrol, Cárol

• Hindi given name41K records spelled Carol14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu, Sinhala

  Also written Carrol, Kyarol, Cäröl, Çârôl, Cärol

• Chinese given name39K records spelled Carol3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Myanmar (Burma), Taiwan

  Languages: Chinese, Burmese

  Also written Čàrol

• Greek given name19K records spelled Carol6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Carroll, Carole, Karol, Κάρολ, Καρολ

• Hungarian given name14K records spelled Carol5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, United States, Finland, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Cärol, Cáról

69 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Carol is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, Feminine form of Charles; increasingly popular in Ireland.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, A round dance accompanied by singing.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• English: Anglicized form of Carolus (see CHARLES ), or of its feminine derivative Carola . It has never been common as a male name, and has become even less so since its growth in popularity as a female name. This seems to be of relatively recent origin (not being found much before the end of the 19th century) and may have originated as a short form of CAROLINE .

  as a word

• In Romanian, a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Charles

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In vec, woodworm

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 145 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Carol I of Romaniab. 1839DEking of Romania from 1881 to 1914
• Carol II of Romaniab. 1893ROking of Romania from 1930 to 1940
• Carol Burnettb. 1933USAmerican actress, comedian and singer (born 1933)
• Diahann Carrollb. 1935USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress, singer, model and activist (1935–2019)
• Joyce Carol Oatesb. 1938USAmerican author (born 1938)
• Carole Kingb. 1942USnot in their usual nameAmerican singer-songwriter and musician (born 1942)
• Carol Clevelandb. 1942GBAmerican-British actress
• Carol Kaneb. 1952USAmerican actress (born 1952)
• Annette Beningb. 1958USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress (born 1958)
• Kalomira Sarantisb. 1985USnot in their usual nameGreek-American singer

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,216 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Carol?

We estimate roughly 1.1 million people bear Carol (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Carol have the most bearers?

Carol is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled carol.

Where is Carol most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Carol is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 51 people — even though United Kingdom holds more of our records for it.

How common is Carol compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Carol is the 46th most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Carol a male or female name?

Carol is recorded for both men and women. We don't publish a percentage split: a record's gender belongs to the person and is attached to every given name on that record, so names in cultures where a name string also carries a parent's or spouse's given name pick up large cross-gender counts.

What does the name Carol mean?

Recorded meaning: From Irish Gaelic Ó Cearbhaill or Mac Cearbhaill, ‘descendant/son of Cearbhal’, perhaps from cearbh ‘hack’, hence possibly ‘butcher’ or ‘ferocious warrior’.