Carlo
Masculine · “free man”
Carlo is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 15,920 boys against 80 girls since 1880.
Carlo is the Italian shape of one of Europe's most traveled names — the same name carried by Charlemagne, whose Latin title Carolus Magnus becomes Carlo Magno on an Italian page. Two syllables, five letters, nothing silent: it says itself. And after a long quiet stretch it is turning up on birth certificates again.
How old is the name Carlo?
Carlo first appears in US birth records in 1894 — 131 years ago. The typical Carlo alive today was born around 1979, making them about 46 years old. About 11,500 people named Carlo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Carlo most popular?
Carlo peaked in 1923, reaching #470 nationally. Today it ranks #867, 397 places below that high. See the whole 1923 chart.
Where it comes from
From Karl to Carlo
The story of Carlo
The root is Germanic: karl, a free man. It became a name of rulers when Charlemagne — Carolus in Latin, Carlo in Italian — was crowned emperor in 800, and after him the name spread through every language his empire touched, taking a different shape in each. Italy kept Carlo, and used it heavily for centuries, from the Borromeo cardinals of Milan to the Savoy kings. It reached American records with Italian migration in the late nineteenth century, and its strongest states today are still the ones where those families settled.
Meaning
free man
From the Germanic word karl, which meant a man, and specifically a free man rather than a servant or noble. The Latin form Carolus carried it into the courts and churches of medieval Europe, and Italian rendered it Carlo.
How the name formed
- Karl
- Carolus
- Carlo
Related forms: Charles · Carlos · Karl · Karol · Károly · Karel
Pronouncing Carlo
KAR-loh
Stress on the first syllable in both English and Italian. Italian speakers tap or roll the r and keep the final o short and clean; English speakers tend to lengthen it slightly. Either way, nobody has to ask twice.
Nicknames for Carlo
High
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
- 1894
- Most boys named
- 2025276 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #470reached in 1923
- Change vs 2022
- +69.3%276 in 2025, from 163
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.
Carlo in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Charles in English/French — same name
- Carlos in Spanish — same name
- Karl in German — same name
- Karol in Polish — same name
- Károly in Hungarian — same name
- Karel in Dutch — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Carlos among us
people named Carlo are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 6,189 born in 2025 was named Carlo
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Carlo
- #867
- Carlo on the 2025 chart
- #638
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Carlo went to 276 boys in 2025, but Karlo is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 306, which makes it the 638th most-given boys’ name of the year — 229 places above the chart.
- Carlo276
- Karlo30
About 1 boy in 5,582 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 6,189 for Carlo 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 Loy test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Carlo's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Loy climbed just as high around 1903, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Loy's path sketches the road Carlo is walking now.
Carlo is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Carlo is headed
Carlo looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 26% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium 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.
Carlo beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Carlo in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled exactly as it sounds, with no silent letters and no competing spellings to correct.
- Part of the Charles family, so it has a recognized equivalent in most European languages — Carlos, Karl, Charles, Karol.
- A documented record stretching back to the medieval Latin Carolus, unbroken through Italian use ever since.
- Comes with ready-made short forms at both ends: Carl for formality, Carletto or Charlie for affection.
- It sits one letter away from Carlos and Carl, so expect a certain amount of gentle correction over a lifetime — on rosters, in email, at the doctor's office.
- The name reads as distinctly Italian to most American ears. That is a pleasure if the heritage is yours and simply a fact to be aware of if it isn't.
- In The Godfather, Carlo Rizzi is the brother-in-law who sets up Sonny's murder — a reference some readers will make and most will not.
- It is uncommon enough that a Carlo will likely be the only one in his class, which means it will be remembered, and also that it will be repeated a few times before it lands.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Carlo to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Carlo
Masculine · #867 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Carlos 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 Carlo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Carlo?
- Carlo is the most-used spelling in US records — 276 of the 306 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Karlo.
- How popular is the name Carlo in 2025?
- Carlo ranks #867 among US boy names in 2025, with 276 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Carlo?
- About 1 in every 6,189 US boys born in 2025 was named Carlo — 276 in all.
- Will my child share the name Carlo with classmates?
- Carlo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Carlo
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edison#867 · Brycen#867 · Alessio#867 · Conner#864 · Zev#864 · Jesiah#864 · Aryan#871 · Stanley#863
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Carlo? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Carlo and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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