Carli
Feminine · “free man”
Carli is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 8,967 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Carli is a short spelling of Carly, the feminine of Carl — a Germanic word that named a free man, neither noble nor bound, and became the name of an emperor.
How old is the name Carli?
Carli first appears in US birth records in 1957 — 68 years ago. The typical Carli alive today was born around 1999, making them about 26 years old. About 8,800 people named Carli are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Carli most popular?
Carli peaked in 1996, reaching #622 nationally. Today it ranks #3389, 2,767 places below that high. See the whole 1996 chart.
Where it comes from
From karl to Carli
The story of Carli
Karl was a word before it was a name, and the eighth-century Frankish emperor turned it into one of the great names of Europe. The English feminines are recent: Charlotte came from France, Carla from Italy and Germany, and Carly was made in twentieth-century America directly from Carl. Carli, ending on a bare i, belongs to the same American habit that gives Kenzi and Emri their endings.
Meaning
free man
From Germanic karl, a free man of the ordinary rank; Charlemagne's name made it royal across Europe, and the Slavic word for a king descends from his. Carly is the twentieth-century English feminine formed from Carl.
How the name formed
- karl
- Carl
- Carly
- Carli
Related forms: Carly · Karla · Carlotta
Pronouncing Carli
KAR-lee
Two syllables, first stressed. Every spelling of the name sounds the same.
Nicknames for Carli
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
- 1957
- Most girls named
- 1996365 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #622reached in 1996
- Change vs 2024
- −16.7%45 in 2025, from 54
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.
Carli in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Carly in English — spelling variant
- Karla in German — related form
- Carlotta in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Georgia.
Carlis among us
people named Carli are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 35,717 born in 2025 was named Carli
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Carli
- #3389
- Carli on the 2025 chart
- #571
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Carli went to 45 girls in 2025, but Carly, Karly and Karli are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 423, which makes it the 571st most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,818 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 3,800 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 35,717 for Carli itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Annabell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Carli's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Annabell climbed just as high around 1906, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Annabell's path sketches the road Carli is walking now.
Carli sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Carli is headed
Carli is easing off slowly — about 24% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Carli beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Carli in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning inherited from one of the longest-running names in Europe.
- Five letters and two syllables, very quick to write.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Carly is the standard spelling and will be written for her constantly.
- Carli, Carly, Karly and Karlee are four live spellings of one name.
- It is strongly associated with a particular decade of American naming.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Carli to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Carli? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Carli
Feminine · #3389 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Carlis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 8,800 people named Carli are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Carli?
- Carli is one of 4 recorded spellings. Carly is the more common one — 248 births in 2025 against 45 for Carli.
- How popular is the name Carli in 2025?
- Carli ranks #3389 among US girl names in 2025, with 45 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Carli?
- About 1 in every 35,717 US girls born in 2025 was named Carli — 45 in all.
- Will my child share the name Carli with classmates?
- Carli will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Carli
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Katheryn#3389 · Posey#3389 · Ronni#3389 · Gittel#3389 · Betsabe#3389 · Germany#3389 · Jaslene#3389 · Lovina#3389
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Carli? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Carli and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle