Carolee
Feminine · “a clearing in the woods”
Carolee is a compound rather than a lengthened Carol. The second half is Lee — the Old English word for a woodland clearing, doing second-half duty the way Anne and Beth do — and the two were written as separate names before they were closed up into one. Carol itself descends from Charles.
How old is the name Carolee?
Carolee first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Carolee alive today was born around 1946, making them about 79 years old. About 2,900 people named Carolee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Carolee most popular?
Carolee peaked in 1943, reaching #454 nationally. See the whole 1943 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Carol to Carolee
The story of Carolee
Lee is unusual among American second elements because it is a complete name that also works as a suffix — Carolee, Marilee, Annalee, Kimberlee. Anne and Beth do the same job but are not standing names for men as well, which Lee is. Writing the two as one word is the American step, and it turns a first-and-middle into a single given name on a form. Carolee appears in American records from the early twentieth century and belongs firmly to that period.
Meaningscholars disagree
a clearing in the woods
The Lee half is Old English leah, a clearing, and its meaning is not in doubt. The Carol half is more argued: it descends either from Charles, through Caroline, or from the English carol, a ring dance from Old French. A compound inherits both halves loosely and merges neither, so the honest reading is the ending's, since that is the half with an undisputed meaning.
How the name formed
- Carol
- Carol Lee
- Carolee
Pronouncing Carolee
KAIR-uh-lee
KAIR-uh-lee, three syllables, main stress at the front and a lighter one at the end. There is no pause in the middle; writing it as one word is exactly what says so.
Nicknames for Carolee
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
- 1917
- Most girls named
- 1943266 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #454reached in 1943
- Change vs 2014
- −28.6%5 in 2021, from 7
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.
Carolees among us
people named Carolee 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
Carolee 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
- Both halves are complete names, so there are two ready alternatives at any point in a life.
- As one word it works as a single given name on any form.
- The sound is entirely familiar and never causes a stumble.
- It will be split back into two words by people and by databases alike.
- Carolee, Carol Lee and Caroline all crowd the same space and get confused.
- The compound structure places the name in the first half of the last century fairly precisely.
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Carolee
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Carolees are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,900 people named Carolee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Carolee in 2025?
- Carolee is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Carolee with classmates?
- Carolee 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 Carolee? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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