Caroline

French, feminine variation of Charles

"free man"

Caroline Origin and Meaning

The name Caroline is a girl's name of French origin meaning "free man".

Caroline is a perennial classic, one of the elite group of girls' names that's ALWAYS ranked among the Top 1000 and that's been in the Top 100 since 1994. Elegant yet strong, Caroline calls to mind the Kennedy Camelot years and Princess Caroline of Monaco.

Caroline went to England in 1705 with King George II's wife, the German Queen Caroline of Ansbach, and then George IV married another German Caroline in 1795.

In the US, Caroline has been a First Lady name via President Benjamin Harrison and was the name of one of the famous First Daughters, Caroline Kennedy.

Jane Austen named one of her less pleasant characters in Pride and Prejudice Caroline, and the name was also borne by Lady Caroline Lamb, the mistress of the poet Lord Byron, as well as the mother of the Little House on the Prairie brood.

The song "Sweet Caroline" was a huge soft-rock hit for Neil Diamond in 1969, inspired by then-eleven-year-old Caroline Kennedy (for whom he sang it at her fiftieth birthday party).

Carolina is the more feminine (and place name) version, as opposed to the newer form Carolyn, which forces the pronunciation of the final syllable to rhyme with win and spin. Though Caroline can be pronounced that way, it's more usually pronounced to rhyme with wine and fine.

Caroline Rank in US Top 1000

# 83 in the US

Caroline Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 90 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Caroline

• 83 US 2023
• 90 Nameberry 2025
• 60 Future 2028
• 984 England 2023
• 131 Germany 2016

20 Names Similar to Caroline

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

• Claire
• Anna
• Elizabeth
• Madeline
• Abigail
• Julia
• Jane
• Eliza
• Sophie
• Catherine
• Audrey
• Lucy
• Grace
• Margaret
• Kate
• Katherine
• Hannah
• Lillian
• Emily
• Isabel

Famous People Named Caroline

• (Wilhelmina Charlotte) Caroline of (Brandenburg )Ansbach, Queen consort of George II of Great Britain
• Caroline Amalie of Schleswig Holstein,Sonderburg,Augustenburg, Queen consort of Christian VIII of Denmark
• Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick( Wolfenbüttel), Queen consort of George IV of Great Britain
• Caroline of Baden (born Friederike Karoline Wilhelmine) Queen consort of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria
• Caroline Matilda of Great Britain Queen consort of Christian VII of Denmark and Norway
• Caroline Louise Marguerite Grimaldi Princess of Hanover (Monaco)
• Caroline Celico Leite (née Lyra) Brazilian socialite and singer, wife of football player Kaká
• Caroline Stilwell Burckle American Olympic swimmer
• Caroline Catz English actress
• Caroline B. Cooney American novelist
• Caroline Corinth Danish model
• Caroline Costa French singer
• Caroline Watson British stylist
• Caroline D'Amore American DJ
• Caroline Grace Elizabeth Williams singer of Christian pop group pureNRG
• Caroline Louise Flack English television presenter
• Caroline Cruice Goodall English actress
• Caroline Bouvier Kennedy U.S. Ambassador, daughter of President John F. Kennedy
• Caroline Patricia Lucas English MP
• Caroline Jackson English MEP
• Caroline Leaf Canadian,American film director
• Caroline Leavitt American novelist
• Caroline Brasch Nielsen Danish model
• Caroline Lake Quiner Ingalls mother of novelist Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Caroline "Carrie" Ingalls Swanzey sister of novelist Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Caroline Adelaide Shaw American musician
• Caroline Amelia Smith daughter of William Smith & Abigail "Nabby" Adams
• Caroline Sunshine American actress
• Caroline Aparecida Trentini Brazilian fashion model
• Caroline Ann O'Connor Anglo,Australian singer
• Caroline Pennell American singer
• Caroline Glaser American singer
• Caroline Glick journalist
• Caroline Hjelt co,member of duo Icona Pop
• Caroline Myss American author
• Caroline Manzo TV personality
• Caroline Proust actress
• Caroline Quentin English actress
• Caroline Ellis actress
• Caroline Rhea Canadian comedienne
• Caroline Dhavernas French,Canadian actress
• Caroline Wozniacki Danish tennis player
• Caroline Zhang American figure skater
• Caroline Herring American singer,songwriter
• Caroline Ognibene American child model; twin of brother Peter
• Caroline Herschel German astronomer
• Caroline Weir Scottish footballer
• Caroline Judith Botelho American actress
• Caroline Olivia Manning (b. 2015) daughter of NFL player Eli Manning
• Caroline Boone Estabrook (b. 2016) daughter of actress Megan Boone

The name Caroline in Pop Culture

• Caroline Channing character on TV's "2 Broke Girls"
• Caroline Forbes character in book and TV series "The Vampire Diaries"
• Caroline Bingley character in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"
• Caroline Mathers character in John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars"
• Caroline McKinley character in book "Monument 14" by Emmy Laybourne
• Caroline Farrell character on TV's "Dollhouse"
• Caroline Kraft character in movie "Mean Girls"
• Caroline Holden character on TV's "Baywatch"
• Caroline Abbott character in the American Girl series
• Caroline Mortier character in 1951 French movie "Edward and Caroline"
• Caroline Duffy character on TV's "Caroline in the City"
• Caroline Mitchell character in movie "Serendipity"
• Caroline Julian character on TV's "Bones"
• Caroline Wu character in the "Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls" series
• Caroline Martha Hubbard also known as Linda Arden, character in Hercule Poirot series
• Caroline character in video game "Portal"
• Caroline Thibodeaux main character in musical "Caroline, Or Change"
• Caroline Irene "Carreen" O'Hara character in "Gone with the Wind"
• Caroline "Carol" Ferris character in DC Universe
• Caroline Penvenen later Caroline Enys, character in TV's Poldark
• Miss Caroline character in Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird"
• Caroline Records record label
• "Caroline No" a song by the Beach Boys
• "Caroline Yes", a song by the Kaiser Chiefs
• "Sweet Caroline " song by Neil Diamond
• "Caroline " song by Old Crow Medicine Show
• Radio Caroline one of the first pirate radio stations in the UK
• Caroline Talbot character in Downton Abbey
• Caroline "Caro" character in novel "Emmy & Oliver"

International Variations of the name Caroline

• Line German
• Lina German
• Karolina Czech
• Karoliina Finnish
• Karola Czech
• Karoline German
• Karila Swedish
• Carolinda Swedish
• Karolinka Polish
• Linchen German