Carlisle
Masculine · “fort of Luguvalos”
Carlisle is given to both — 1,862 boys and 467 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Carlisle is a city on the Scottish border and one of the oldest continuously used names in Britain — a Roman fort name with a Celtic god inside it, wrapped in a Brittonic word for a fortified place.
How old is the name Carlisle?
Carlisle first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Carlisle alive today was born around 1958, making them about 67 years old. About 1,100 people named Carlisle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Carlisle most popular?
Carlisle peaked in 1893, reaching #615 nationally. Today it ranks #3240, 2,625 places below that high. See the whole 1893 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Luguvalium to Carlisle
The story of Carlisle
The Romans built a fort at the western end of what became Hadrian's Wall and called it Luguvalium. When Latin gave way to Brittonic, the older name kept its shape and gained a Welsh prefix, and the result survived Norse, Norman and English rule to become Carlisle. Families took the city's name as a surname, and it crossed to America, where it appeared in nineteenth-century given-name records and has continued quietly since.
Meaningscholars disagree
fort of Luguvalos
The Roman name was Luguvalium, generally read as belonging to a man named for the god Lugus. Brittonic speakers later added caer, a fort, giving Caer Luel and then Carlisle. The details of the personal name are debated; the caer is not.
How the name formed
- Luguvalium
- Caer Luel
- Carlisle
Related forms: Caerliwelydd · Carlyle
Pronouncing Carlisle
kar-LYLE
Two syllables with the stress on the second in British usage; Americans often stress the first, KAR-lyle.
Nicknames for Carlisle
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
- 1888
- Most boys named
- 201842 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #615reached in 1893
- Change vs 2023
- +5.9%36 in 2025, from 34
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.
Carlisle in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Caerliwelydd in Welsh — related form
- Carlyle in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, North Carolina, California.
Carlisles among us
people named Carlisle are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 47,447 born in 2025 was named Carlisle
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Carlisle 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 Carlisle is headed
Carlisle should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Carlisle beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Carlisle in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One of the oldest place names in Britain, documented continuously since the Roman period.
- Carl sits inside it as a plain and entirely ordinary short form.
- It has genuine nineteenth-century American use as a given name.
- The stress is unsettled between British and American usage.
- Carlyle is an equally current spelling and will be written for him.
- A popular vampire novel gave the name a strong association for a certain generation.
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What they receive
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Carlisle
Masculine · #3240 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Carlisles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Carlisle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Carlisle in 2025?
- Carlisle ranks #3240 among US boy names in 2025, with 36 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Carlisle?
- About 1 in every 47,447 US boys born in 2025 was named Carlisle — 36 in all.
- Will my child share the name Carlisle with classmates?
- Carlisle will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Carlisle
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenio#3240 · Pace#3240 · Stoney#3240 · Dany#3240 · Rasheed#3240 · Abdirahman#3240 · Mykah#3240 · Lowell#3240
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Carlisle? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Carlisle and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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