Head to head · Girls' names
Carolina vs Lana
#405 vs #406 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Carolina is a whisker ahead (#405 vs #406 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Carolina leads 4 measures of 6; Lana leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Carolina #504, Lana #950 — Carolina higher
- 1890s: Carolina #602, Lana #1104 — Carolina higher
- 1900s: Carolina #568, Lana #1486 — Carolina higher
- 1910s: Carolina #655, Lana #1922 — Carolina higher
- 1920s: Carolina #625, Lana #1826 — Carolina higher
- 1930s: Carolina #652, Lana #1872 — Carolina higher
- 1940s: Carolina #751, Lana #220 — Lana higher
- 1950s: Carolina #928, Lana #293 — Lana higher
- 1960s: Carolina #762, Lana #315 — Lana higher
- 1970s: Carolina #651, Lana #414 — Lana higher
- 1980s: Carolina #462, Lana #568 — Carolina higher
- 1990s: Carolina #290, Lana #942 — Carolina higher
- 2000s: Carolina #298, Lana #571 — Carolina higher
- 2010s: Carolina #421, Lana #403 — Lana higher
- 2020s: Carolina #449, Lana #398 — Lana higher
Carolina stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Lana has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Carolina | Lana |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #504 | #950 |
| 1890s | #602 | #1104 |
| 1900s | #568 | #1486 |
| 1910s | #655 | #1922 |
| 1920s | #625 | #1826 |
| 1930s | #652 | #1872 |
| 1940s | #751 | #220 |
| 1950s | #928 | #293 |
| 1960s | #762 | #315 |
| 1970s | #651 | #414 |
| 1980s | #462 | #568 |
| 1990s | #290 | #942 |
| 2000s | #298 | #571 |
| 2010s | #421 | #403 |
| 2020s | #449 | #398 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Carolina
Not charting outside the US.
Lana
- France#97
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Carolina
free person (from Germanic karl, via Charles)
Carolina is the Latinate feminine of Carolus — Charles — whose root is the Germanic karl, a free man. The American states carry the same name for a documented reason: they were chartered in honor of King Charles, rendered in Latin as Carolus.
karl (Germanic, 'free man') → Carolus (Latin form of Charles) → Carolina
How it traveled
The name walked out of the Germanic karl, was Latinized as Carolus for kings and charters, and grew feminine branches across Europe — Carolina in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, Karolina to the north and east. English colonists fixed the same Latin form onto the Atlantic coast in honor of their kings Charles, which is why the name and the states are spelled identically.
Lana
Depends on which Lana: 'light' through Svetlana, or 'calm, buoyant' in Hawaiian
Several genuine roads meet at this spelling. In Russian and across the Balkans, Lana is the everyday short form of Svetlana, from a root meaning 'light'; it also clips Milana and Alana. In Hawaiian, lana is a word meaning 'floating, buoyant, calm'. In Latin and its descendants — Italian, Spanish — lana simply means 'wool'. None of these cancels the others; the name arrived in English from more than one direction.
Svetlana → Lana
How it traveled
The Slavic line is the best documented: Svetlana became widespread in Russia in the nineteenth century, and Lana is its ordinary short form, still used that way in Russia, Croatia and Serbia, where Lana also stands alone as a full given name. In English, the name came in largely by a different door — as a clipping of Alana, the feminine of the Irish and Breton name Alan, and then through American film, when a young contract actress was given Lana as a screen name in the late 1930s.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Carolina
kair-uh-LY-nah
English speakers say it like the states — kair-uh-LY-nah. In Spanish, Italian and Portuguese it is kah-ro-LEE-nah. Many families use both, one at home and one at school, and the name holds up under either.
- Caro — The usual short in Spanish-speaking families, and increasingly in English ones.
- Lina — Taken from the ending; a complete given name in its own right across Europe.
- Carrie — The classic English-language short, most common among older generations.
Lana
LAH-nuh
LAH-nuh is the dominant pronunciation in the US and matches the Slavic original. Some American families say LAN-uh, rhyming with Anna. Both are established, so it is worth deciding which one you mean early — people will ask.
- Lanie — The most common affectionate extension; also spelled Laney and used on its own as a given name.
- Lala — A family-only nickname, mostly used with small children.
- Lan — Rare and informal in English; Lan is a separate given name in Vietnamese and Chinese.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Carolina if you want…
- a name on the way upup 45 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itCarolina runs 4 syllables, Lana 2
- a long American recordCarolina was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Lana if you want…
- a name holding steadyLana is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesLana is 2 syllables to Carolina's 4
- a name that charts abroad tooLana is on the national lists of France
- a newer arrivalLana entered the US charts in 1885
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Carolina
Strengths
- Fully at home in English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese — no translation needed.
- Three working short forms — Caro, Lina, Carrie — covering every register.
- In continuous American use since record-keeping began.
To consider
- Two pronunciations means she will spend a lifetime steering people to the one you chose.
- Autocorrect and fast readers routinely turn it into Caroline.
- The state association is permanent; 'Sweet Caroline' serenades and geography jokes come with it.
Lana
Strengths
- Spelled exactly as it sounds, and short enough that no one needs it repeated or abbreviated on a form.
- Works unchanged in Russian, Croatian, Serbian and French, where it also currently charts — useful in a bilingual family.
- A long, level record rather than a fashion spike: represented across several generations of living Americans, not concentrated in one.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, LAH-nuh and LAN-uh, means a lifetime of small corrections unless you are relaxed about either.
- The singer Lana Del Rey is the strongest current association in the US, and for some listeners the name will call up her music before anything else.
- In Spanish and Italian, lana is the ordinary word for wool. Harmless, but Spanish-speaking relatives will notice it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Carolina and Lana in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Carolina and Lana?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Four-syllable names that carry
- Eight-letter names with presence
- Portuguese names in the American record
- Map names: states and countries as first names
- all guides
Where Carolina and Lana each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Carolina or Lana — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Carolina or Lana?
- Carolina, in 2025: Carolina ranked #405 with 769 babies; Lana ranked #406 with 768 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Carolina or Lana?
- Carolina. Over the last five years Carolina moved up 45 places; Lana moved down 13 places.
- Which is the older name, Carolina or Lana?
- Carolina was already in use when US records began in 1880; Lana entered the US charts in 1885. On the American record, Carolina is the older name.
- How many people are named Carolina and Lana?
- About 43,000 people named Carolina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 50,000 people named Lana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Carolinas or Lanas in the classroom?
- Carolina will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lana will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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