Carys
Feminine · “love”
Carys is Welsh for love, and it is a modern name — coined in the twentieth century from the verb caru, to love.
How old is the name Carys?
Carys first appears in US birth records in 1991 — 34 years ago. The typical Carys alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 2,300 people named Carys are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Carys most popular?
Carys peaked in 2006, reaching #1227 nationally. Today it ranks #4352, 3,125 places below that high. See the whole 2006 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From caru to Carys
The story of Carys
Welsh naming was heavily revived in the twentieth century, and part of that revival involved making new names from Welsh words rather than only restoring old ones — Carys and Cerys from caru, Heulwen from sunshine, Eirlys from a snowdrop. Carys has become one of the most-used Welsh women's names, which is a considerable achievement for a name barely a century old.
Meaning
love
From Welsh caru, to love, with a suffix; the name was formed in the twentieth century rather than inherited, which is unusual for a Welsh name and is well documented. Cerys is a variant of the same formation.
How the name formed
- caru
- Carys
Related forms: Cerys · Caryl
Pronouncing Carys
KAR-iss
Two syllables, first stressed; the y is a short i in Welsh.
Nicknames for Carys
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
- 1991
- Most girls named
- 2006196 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1227reached in 2006
- Change vs 2024
- +10.3%32 in 2025, from 29
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.
Carys in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cerys in Welsh — spelling variant
- Caryl in Welsh — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, New York, California.
Caryss among us
people named Carys are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 50,227 born in 2025 was named Carys
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Carys
- #4352
- Carys on the 2025 chart
- #800
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Carys went to 32 girls in 2025, but Karis, Caris and Kharis and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 160, which makes it the 800th most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,552 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 10,045 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 50,227 for Carys 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 Page test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Carys's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Page climbed just as high around 1967, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Page's path sketches the road Carys is walking now.
Carys 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 Carys is headed
Carys is easing off slowly — about 19% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Carys beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Carys in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Welsh meaning that is as good as a meaning gets.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- It carries Welsh identity clearly, which is the point for the families who use it.
- English readers may say the y as in why, which is wrong.
- Carys and Cerys are both in use and neither is dominant.
- It is unfamiliar in America and will be spelled out constantly.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Carys
Feminine · #4352 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Caryss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,300 people named Carys are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Carys?
- Carys is one of 5 recorded spellings. Karis is the more common one — 94 births in 2025 against 32 for Carys.
- How popular is the name Carys in 2025?
- Carys ranks #4352 among US girl names in 2025, with 32 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Carys?
- About 1 in every 50,227 US girls born in 2025 was named Carys — 32 in all.
- Will my child share the name Carys with classmates?
- Carys will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Carys
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sigrid#4352 · Adel#4352 · Lovella#4352 · Kaysha#4352 · Arissa#4352 · Joseline#4352 · Yajaira#4352 · Elma#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Carys? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Carys and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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