Carly

Meaning: Free man
Origin: Variant of Carl (from Germanic (Old Norse))

Girl's name · #1009 in the US (2025) · Timeless

Popularity over time

Carly holds its lane: charted since 1951 and rarely far from where it stands today (#1009 in 2025). About 66,000 girls have carried it along the way.

Across the states

See where Carly is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 36 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Carly ranks in other countries and regions.

#563 in Scotland (2025) · #1,150 in Ecuador (2025) · #1,363 in Canada (2024).

Famous Carlys

Carly Rae Jepsen — Canadian singer (born 1985)
Carly Fiorina — American businesswoman and politician
Carly Simon — American musician
Carly Patterson — American artistic gymnast and rock singer (born 1988)
Carly Chaikin — American actress

In stories & tradition

Carly Shay — iCarly (TV series)
Carly Wicks — EastEnders (TV series)
Carly Manning — Days of Our Lives (TV series)

What Carlys become

Among 196 notable people named Carly:

Sports figures appear 2.21× more often than among typical names — e.g. Carly Patterson, American artistic gymnast and rock singer (born 1988).

Spellings & nicknames

Together with its spelling variants Karlee (#1898), Carlee (#1911), and Karlie (#2179), Carly would rank around #560 with about 540 births last year — the newborns split about 46/19/19/16 across Carly, Karlee, Carlee, and Karlie.

Similar names: Charley · Hayley · Kara · Marlee · Chelsea · Harley

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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