Carla

KAR-luh

Feminine variation of Carl

"free man"

Carla Origin and Meaning

The name Carla is a girl's name meaning "free man".

While Charlotte and Caroline are considered stylish and classic members of the Charles family, this Germanic form peaked in the US at Number 76 in 1965. It fell out of favor in the 2010s, but recent years have seen it re-enter the Top 1000.

Highly popular in Spain, Carla shares similar sounds to Clara, Kaia, Mara and Kiara, which might help people see it in a new light in coming years.

Carla Rank in US Top 1000

# 963 in the US

Popularity of the name Carla

• 963 US 2023
• 1395 Nameberry 2025
• 125 Unique 2021
• 588 England 2023
• 64 Germany 2024
• 15 Spain 2023
• 389 Mexico 2021
• 120 Switzerland 2023

20 Names Similar to Carla

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Carla.

• Candace
• Donna
• Regina
• Sher
• Denise
• Suzanne
• Lisa
• Geneveve
• Carolyn
• Melinda
• Leslie
• Hillary
• Teresa
• Aimee
• Paulina
• Monica
• Lizzie
• Jenny
• Erica
• Deborah

Famous People Named Carla

• Carla Bruni singer, actress, former model and former French First Lady
• Carla Gugino American actress
• Carla Green American rapper
• Carla Jeffrey American actress; twin brother Carlon Jeffrey
• Carla Paolina Gallo American actress
• Carla Crombie Spanish model
• Carla Maffioletti Brazilian singer and guitarist

The name Carla in Pop Culture

• Carla Tortelli a main character on the sitcom "Cheers"
• Carla Espinoza Turk, a character on the sitcom "Scrubs"
• Carla Radames character in the game Resident Evil 6
• Carla Dean from the movie "Enemy of the State"
• Carla Purty from movie "The Nutty Professor"
• Carla Grunwald character in ABC's "Ravenswood" & "Pretty Little Liars"
• Carla Connor character on ITV soap "Coronation Street"
• Carla Tannhauser character on TV's "The Flash"
• Carla Santini character from movie and novel "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen"
• Carla main character in the upcoming TV series "Carla" played by Mayim Bialik , from Wikipedia it says
• "Carla follows a 39 year,old woman called Carla "who struggles every day against society and her mother to prove that you cannot have everything you want, and still be happy. So she spends the money her parents set aside for her wedding to open a cat café "