Carlo

What Carlo means

Same root as Charles, meaning “free man”

Doublet of Charles || From French Charles, from Old French Charles, Carles, from Latin Carolus, from and also reinfluenced by Frankish and Old High German Karl, from Proto-Germanic *karilaz (“free man”); compare the English word churl and the German Kerl.

Source: Wiktionary, “Carlo” (revision 83830059) and “Charles” (revision 94594314), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Carlo?

US: Rising: up from #1252 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #1046 in 2015, #1093 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 276 boys got the name (#867 that year). First in the US records in 1894.

How common

• About 1 in 6,189 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 10,072 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,806 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AZ (0.34 per 1,000 boys), CA (0.33 per 1,000 boys), NJ (0.3 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Carlo is #867 in the US and #1093 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Carlo were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Karlo30 US · 8 E&W
• Carol0 US · 11 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Carlo

Boys

• Santos#763Editor’s note Up from #913 in 2015 to #763 in 2025 in the US
• Maximo#580Editor’s note Up from #853 in 2015 to #580 in 2025 in the US
• Angelo#304Editor’s note Down from #299 in 2015 to #304 in 2025 in the US
• Alessandro#497Italian form of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Joan#984“God is gracious”^*
• Enzo#72“home + ruler”^*

For a sister

• Alessia#326Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1967, with 9 babies
• Isabela#664Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1982, with 6 babies
• Luciana#273Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #273 vs #1,809 in 2025
• Valentina#35Same root as Valentine, meaning “strong, healthy”^*
• Lola#275Editor’s note Down from #224 in 2015 to #275 in 2025 in the US
• Gia#287Editor’s note Up from #372 in 2015 to #287 in 2025 in the US

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Spanish & Italian, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Carlo’s. Rank is US 2025.