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Carol as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Carol

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The baby name Carol is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈkærəl/ — KAR-əl.

Carol is English in Origin.

Gender: Female
Syllables: 2.0
Origin: English
Pronunciation: /ˈkærəl/ — KAR-əl

What is the meaning of the name Carol ?

The baby name Carol is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈkærəl/ — KAR-əl.

Carol is English in Origin.

Carol is an English given name used chiefly for women, though also masculine in some traditions. It began as a short form of Caroline and Carolyn, feminine forms of Charles, ultimately from Germanic Karl meaning “free man.” The name also echoes the English word carol, a festive song from Old French carole, lending a cheerful, seasonal undertone.

In English-speaking countries, Carol rose in the late 19th century and peaked for girls from the 1930s to 1960s before declining; earlier male use exists but is now rare. In Europe, masculine Carol survives in Romanian; related forms include Polish/Slovak Karol. Feminine variants and cognates include Carole, Carola, Karola, Caroline, Carolina, Carolyn, Karoline, and Karolina; diminutives are Carrie, Caro, and Caz. Spellings like Carroll often function as surnames. The core meaning remains “free man,” now colored by associations of music and winter festivity.

Carol has the following similar or variant Names

Famous people with the name Carol

Carole King Actor|musician · Born 1942 · United States Carole King is a legendary American singer-songwriter best known for shaping pop music as both a performer and hitmaker. She wrote or co-wrote many major songs, including "You’ve Got a Friend," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," and became one of the most successful female songwriters of the 20th century. Carol Burnett Actor · Born 1933 · United States Carol Burnett is most famous for her groundbreaking comedy work, especially The Carol Burnett Show. She is an American comedian, actress, singer, and writer who has starred in both comic and dramatic roles on stage and screen, including Annie and The Four Seasons. Carol Kane Actor · Born 1952 · United States Carol Kane is an American actress and comedian best known for her roles in Hester Street, Taxi, and The Princess Bride. She earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance in Hester Street (1975).
Carol Lynley Actor · Born 1942 · United States Carol Lynley was an American actress best known for her roles in Blue Denim and The Poseidon Adventure. She started out as a child model and went on to build a film career after beginning to act at a young age. Carol Morris Actor · Born 1936 · United States Carol Morris is best known for winning Miss Universe 1956, becoming the second Miss USA to take the title. Born Carol Ann Laverne Morris on April 8, 1936, she is an American actress, model, and beauty queen who was crowned by Hillevi Rombin of Sweden, the 1955 Miss Universe winner. Carol Heiss Actor · Born 1940 · United States Carol Heiss is best known as an American figure skater who won the gold medal in ladies' singles at the 1960 Winter Olympics. She was also the 1956 Olympic silver medalist and won five straight World Championships from 1956 to 1960.

Carol – Popularity by country

Based on birth registration data from national statistics agencies.

Country Gender Year Rank Born of
Ireland Girls 2010 #1 — 983
FJ Girls 0 #9 1 583
HT 0 #11 2 399
SV 0 #11 1 283
KR Girls 0 #15 1 572
BW 0 #18 2 960
HN 0 #19 4 704
HN Girls 0 #23 14 884
MO 0 #23 30 2,706
BN 0 #31 2 2,297
NA 0 #32 2 2,537
MV Girls 0 #33 3 2,021
JM Girls 0 #34 457 7,507
EE 0 #36 2 1,051
TW 0 #38 66 4,523
TW Girls 0 #38 409 8,139
ID 0 #39 1 2,238
MT 0 #39 5 1,767
HK 0 #41 583 8,483
HK Girls 0 #43 2,761 16,104
CN 0 #51 35 3,857
PR 0 #52 4 1,497
CM 0 #54 3 2,592
CY 0 #55 6 1,632
BR Girls 0 #61 7,832 12,708
JM 0 #62 26 3,714
PH 0 #62 35 5,607
LU 0 #63 4 2,830
ZA Girls 0 #64 6,453 25,928
BW Girls 0 #66 92 4,216
MO Girls 0 #67 241 7,056
BR 0 #68 517 5,969
JP 0 #68 10 4,057
IN 0 #71 1 2,963
SG Girls 0 #71 1,374 18,916
CN Girls 0 #73 586 8,829
AO 0 #74 4 2,729
CY Girls 0 #75 47 3,755
SI 0 #80 1 1,612
BG 0 #81 2 1,799
QA 0 #83 18 7,011
GT Girls 0 #85 1,051 7,500
MT Girls 0 #88 66 3,773
BN Girls 0 #92 15 5,459
AF Girls 0 #94 1 2,402
CR 0 #97 62 5,526
ID Girls 0 #97 6 3,319
SG 0 #100 197 11,010
OM 0 #101 16 6,215
PA 0 #106 25 3,797
ZA 0 #106 437 14,421
PR Girls 0 #109 54 3,171
KW 0 #116 6 5,216
EC 0 #119 3 2,502
MU 0 #123 14 3,613
EE Girls 0 #124 15 1,888
EE Boys 0 #125 1 2,087
CY Boys 0 #131 1 3,473
GR 0 #133 3 3,911
Switzerland Girls 2024 #134 2 1,786
ID Boys 0 #135 1 4,130
PH Girls 0 #138 317 13,098
JO 0 #139 2 2,158
CL Girls 0 #142 3,227 14,098
CO Girls 0 #150 6,102 16,140
NA Girls 0 #150 75 7,146
AE 0 #151 27 10,220
LT Boys 0 #151 1 2,166
BW Boys 0 #154 1 4,685
GT 0 #154 179 5,948
UY Girls 0 #157 722 6,731
PA Girls 0 #159 494 9,861
UY 0 #159 19 2,477
MY 0 #160 184 12,352
CR Girls 0 #164 614 11,342
LU Girls 0 #164 22 4,850
CL 0 #166 351 6,867
Spain Girls 0 #172 3,569 5,561
HU Boys 0 #172 3 3,954
AR 0 #175 12 2,915
MT Boys 0 #175 5 4,064
SI Girls 0 #177 1 2,769
AO Girls 0 #179 31 4,575
CZ 0 #179 8 3,154
HR 0 #180 2 2,081
EC Girls 0 #181 59 3,650
JP Girls 0 #182 64 6,592
BO Girls 0 #185 856 9,488
Sweden Girls 2016 #186 2 1,634
Spain 0 #189 356 2,326
QA Girls 0 #190 128 15,378
RU 0 #193 2 3,641
PE Girls 0 #195 2,547 14,861
PT Girls 0 #198 449 7,952
LT Girls 0 #199 2 1,904
PS 0 #200 19 5,692
DK 0 #203 4 5,198
MY Girls 0 #203 1,732 24,821
PT 0 #204 43 4,161
PE 0 #207 105 6,350
PL 0 #211 2 2,600
CO 0 #216 404 7,768
OM Girls 0 #216 185 15,987
LU Boys 0 #218 3 4,970
GR Girls 0 #223 20 6,293
HU Girls 0 #223 3 3,308
IR 0 #227 5 4,221
BG Girls 0 #230 2 3,559
MO Boys 0 #231 4 5,842
BD 0 #240 2 5,992
NG 0 #242 23 5,926
EC Boys 0 #245 2 3,322
JM Boys 0 #245 28 6,876
GH 0 #247 2 5,396
AO Boys 0 #249 1 5,568
IL 0 #251 24 6,291
NA Boys 0 #253 1 6,830
TW Boys 0 #255 2 7,111
HR Boys 0 #259 1 3,997
BO 0 #266 116 6,868
AE Girls 0 #268 306 20,968
SA 0 #269 27 10,560
Canada Girls 2022 #273 8 2,867
GR Boys 0 #273 1 6,912
AF Boys 0 #274 1 3,535
JO Girls 0 #279 47 7,570
MU Girls 0 #279 73 8,539
HR Girls 0 #292 3 3,687
DK Girls 0 #294 23 7,429
KZ Boys 0 #296 1 6,578
CZ Boys 0 #301 5 6,530
Canada Boys 1991 #302 6 1,696
JP Boys 0 #303 1 7,909
GH Girls 0 #307 18 6,973
CZ Girls 0 #313 29 5,378
CM Girls 0 #321 233 11,671
CN Boys 0 #327 5 9,639
KZ Girls 0 #329 4 5,862
DK Boys 0 #332 1 7,401
PL Boys 0 #335 6 6,459
KW Girls 0 #337 180 19,177
PL Girls 0 #343 12 5,096
MX 0 #344 70 8,339
EG 0 #352 49 6,387
NL 0 #352 40 2,481
SD Girls 0 #354 5 7,678
GH Boys 0 #358 4 8,138
MU Boys 0 #361 9 8,477
AR Girls 0 #373 274 8,289
Finland Girls 0 #374 18 1,368
PT Boys 0 #374 8 7,951
MX Girls 0 #378 2,027 17,781
UY Boys 0 #387 13 5,922
Austria Girls 0 #397 24 1,885
YE 0 #397 2 8,639
NG Girls 0 #400 517 15,093
BD Girls 0 #403 4 8,413
France Boys 2015 #404 3 2,851
PH Boys 0 #407 2 11,440
LB 0 #409 279 13,263
France Girls 2015 #411 3 3,223
Germany 0 #415 23 2,542
PS Girls 0 #430 94 10,981
IT Girls 0 #432 2,415 9,415
Austria Boys 0 #433 10 2,180
GT Boys 0 #448 27 7,625
SY 0 #453 312 11,684
IL Girls 0 #461 160 11,648
PA Boys 0 #464 18 9,305
SD Boys 0 #465 2 10,523
EG Girls 0 #467 669 14,742
AR Boys 0 #477 7 7,628
RU Girls 0 #478 21 11,913
IT 0 #481 245 4,183
BH 0 #485 69 17,937
IQ Girls 0 #492 13 11,303
CR Boys 0 #505 6 10,188
IR Girls 0 #508 23 8,334
CM Boys 0 #513 38 12,054
HK Boys 0 #513 15 12,905
RU Boys 0 #523 4 12,621
LY 0 #524 12 12,703
PS Boys 0 #537 12 10,655
SA Girls 0 #555 402 25,931
IR Boys 0 #563 3 10,162
BO Boys 0 #579 14 9,244
CL Boys 0 #585 81 13,390
IL Boys 0 #589 19 10,983
BD Boys 0 #604 2 10,045
IN Girls 0 #608 24 13,121
BR Boys 0 #620 133 12,213
Finland Boys 2026 #676 7 3,552
NL Girls 0 #677 286 5,933
IQ Boys 0 #690 8 13,071
Finland Girls 2026 #709 30 3,895
SG Boys 0 #731 9 17,960
QA Boys 0 #739 5 18,093
Germany Girls 0 #748 91 4,949
CO Boys 0 #792 129 15,656
KW Boys 0 #803 4 18,755
TN 0 #811 19 13,765
PE Boys 0 #835 44 14,506
United States Girls 2024 #851 66 8,487
United States Boys 2009 #875 5 7,454
Spain Boys 0 #883 48 5,610
NL Boys 0 #891 61 5,873
MX Boys 0 #895 88 16,355
Germany Boys 0 #907 46 5,697
OM Boys 0 #914 5 17,948
EG Boys 0 #919 7 15,035
NG Boys 0 #938 14 16,906
ZA Boys 0 #1,013 166 25,619
IN Boys 0 #1,038 2 16,750
MY Boys 0 #1,072 40 25,439
AE Boys 0 #1,078 15 22,615
MA 0 #1,080 49 20,986
DZ 0 #1,139 38 20,130
TR 0 #1,155 57 19,440
IT Boys 0 #1,328 144 10,046
SA Boys 0 #1,596 19 28,008

Carol is popular in 89 countries — most recent births per country:

France
Ireland
Canada
Scotland, United Kingdom
United States

Did we miss something about this name? Let us know!

People also ask about Carol

Carol is predominantly a girl's name.
Carol is a 2 syllable name, pronounced /ˈkærəl/ — KAR-əl.
Common nicknames and spelling variations include Caroline, Carolina, Carole, Carolyn, Carolyne and Caro.
Across languages, Carol has these equivalents: Charles (English, male), Karl (German, male), Karel (Czech, male), Carlo (Italian, male), Carlos (Spanish, male), and 1 more.
Yes, very popular — Carol ranked #1 in Ireland in 2010, and appears in official birth registries across 8 countries.
Carol ranks highest in Ireland (#1 in 2010).
Carol's popularity is holding steady. It moved from #1 in 2000 to #1 in 2010 in Ireland.
Yes — 12 notable people named Carol are in our database, including Carole King (Actor|musician), Carol Burnett (Actor), Carol Kane (Actor).