Carey
Feminine · “dark”
Carey is given to both — 12,741 girls and 16,880 boys since 1880. See Carey as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Carey is an Irish surname and an English river, and English spelling has collapsed the two. Ó Ciardha means descendant of the dark one; the Somerset Cary is a Celtic river name.
How old is the name Carey?
Carey was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Carey alive today was born around 1974, making them about 51 years old. About 11,500 people named Carey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Carey most popular?
Carey peaked in 1975, reaching #304 nationally. See the whole 1975 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ciar to Carey
The story of Carey
Ó Ciardha families were prominent in Ireland, and the Carey surname traveled with emigration. Separately, Castle Cary in Somerset gave an English gentry family its name. Both crossed into American given-name use, and the -ey spelling was taken up for girls in the twentieth century, peaking in the mid-1960s.
Meaningscholars disagree
dark; of the river Cary
The Irish surname Ó Ciardha comes from ciar, 'dark' or 'black' — the same element behind Kerry and Ciarán. The English Carey and Cary come from the Somerset river, whose Celtic name is not recovered. Both feed the modern name and the spelling does not distinguish them.
How the name formed
- ciar
- Ó Ciardha
- Carey
Related forms: Ó Ciardha · Cary · Kerry
Pronouncing Carey
KAIR-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Carey and Cary are said identically, and both are close to Kerry in most American accents.
Nicknames for Carey
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 1974659 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #304reached in 1975
- Change vs 2021
- −44.4%5 in 2024, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Carey in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ó Ciardha in Irish — related form
- Cary in English — spelling variant
- Kerry in English — related form
Careys among us
people named Carey are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Carey sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Two documented traditions stand behind it, one Irish and one English.
- It works for either sex, with real records on both sides.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- Carey, Cary, Kerry and Carrie are all close enough to be confused in speech.
- The origin is genuinely split.
- It is closely dated to the middle of the twentieth century.
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What they receive
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Carey
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Careys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 11,500 people named Carey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Carey in 2025?
- Carey is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Carey with classmates?
- Carey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Carey? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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