Girl's name
Carla
Say it KAR-luh
Germanic origin 2 syllables
Where Carla is loved, common and rare
Common across Spain and five German cities. Rare in Austria, Switzerland, Italy and nine more places.
1 in 1,760 girls born in Ireland in 2025
Catalonia 31stCologne 74thMunich 86th
LovedCommonRare
Every place
In 19 of the 40 official lists, among them Catalonia (31st), Cologne (74th) and Munich (86th).
Show all 19 placesShow less
| Place | Rank | Girls | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 14th 2024 | 1,413 | rank only |
| Catalonia region | 31st 2025 | 132 | 1 in 146 |
| Cologne city | 74th 2023 | 17 | about 1 in 361 |
| Munich city | 86th 2025 | 16 | about 1 in 262 |
| Berlin city | 87th 2023 | 36 | about 1 in 403 |
| Austria | 110th 2025 | 60 | 1 in 595 |
| Switzerland | 165th 2025 | 44 | 1 in 773 |
| Italy | 169th 2024 | 139 | 1 in 1,289 |
| Sweden | 303rd 2025 | 24 | about 1 in 1,674 |
| Ireland | 325th 2025 | 12 | 1 in 1,760 |
| France | 396th 2025 | 130 | 1 in 2,206 |
| Poland | 498th 2025 | 4 | 1 in 29,947 |
| Scotland | 780th 2025 | 3 | 1 in 5,964 |
| The Netherlands | 907th 2025 | 11 | about 1 in 5,547 |
| England and Wales | 922nd 2025 | 38 | 1 in 6,665 |
| Ontario province | 1283rd 2024 | 8 | about 1 in 6,808 |
| Rostock city | 62nd 2025 | 3 | about 1 in 328 |
| Bonn city | 99th 2025 | 6 | about 1 in 502 |
| Leipzig city | 344th 2025 | 1 | about 1 in 2,624 |
Rare, below the listed names: Northern Ireland, Quebec, British Columbia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Hungary, Slovenia and Israel.
Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).
Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.
Sources: INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadística) (Spain); Idescat (Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya) (Catalonia); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); Landeshauptstadt München, Statistisches Amt (opendata.muenchen.de) (Munich); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) (Sweden); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji, rejestr PESEL (dane.gov.pl) (Poland); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock (opendata-hro.de) (Rostock); Bundesstadt Bonn, Standesamt (opendata.bonn.de) (Bonn); Stadt Leipzig, Standesamt (opendata.leipzig.de) (Leipzig). How we count, and every source
About the name
Carla comes from German and Italian, and by surface analysis it is Carl plus the feminine ending -a. No separate meaning is recorded, so it is best described as the feminine form of Carl, a name of Germanic origin.
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Two syllables, said KAR-luh, with the stress on the first. Karla is the German and Slavic spelling. Carly is a related English name, and Carola, Carlota, Carol and Caroline belong to the same family.
Spain is where Carla is most popular, a top-20 name, and it is also popular in Catalonia and Austria. In English-speaking countries it is used modestly, mainly in Ireland, with small numbers in Scotland and England and Wales. French records put its peak around 2004, and today it is steady to slightly declining.
Meaning, origin, pronunciation
- Pronounced
- KAR-luh, 2 syllables
- Origin
- Germanic
- Other spellings
- Karla
- Caroline
- Carlota
- Carol
- Karola
- Carly
- Carole
- Carola
Etymology
From German and Italian Carla. By surface analysis, Carl + -a.
From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.
Over time
Over five years: rising in 4 of 15 regions, falling in 6.
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Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.
Ten years of ranks
Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.
| Region | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 768 | 604 | 560 | 513 | 617 | 537 | 541 | 583 | 638 | 922 |
| Scotland | 336 | 501 | 449 | 376 | 544 | 396 | 418 | 749 | 638 | 780 |
| Northern Ireland | 229 | 296 | 313 | 446 | 328 | |||||
| Ireland | 187 | 260 | 436 | 421 | 355 | 299 | 458 | 404 | 342 | 325 |
| Ontario | 1100 | 1007 | 693 | 1134 | 1240 | 1146 | 1249 | 1437 | 1283 | |
| Quebec | 956 | 799 | 730 | 913 | 810 | 534 | 805 | 612 | ||
| France | 262 | 239 | 205 | 198 | 217 | 275 | 325 | 359 | 377 | 396 |
| The Netherlands | 927 | 924 | 907 | |||||||
| Austria | 148 | 148 | 129 | 147 | 135 | 136 | 118 | 108 | 143 | 110 |
| Switzerland | 141 | 202 | 145 | 148 | 140 | 158 | 131 | 120 | 175 | 165 |
| Berlin | 111 | 107 | 134 | 84 | 129 | 95 | 83 | 87 | ||
| Munich | 48 | 45 | 69 | 46 | 52 | 38 | 32 | 68 | 35 | 86 |
| Cologne | 79 | 42 | 67 | 60 | 53 | 53 | 29 | 74 | ||
| Bonn | 143 | 74 | 33 | 69 | 50 | 68 | 70 | 115 | 42 | 99 |
| Leipzig | 152 | 102 | 148 | 131 | 191 | 117 | 254 | 85 | 117 | 344 |
| Rostock | 136 | 84 | 199 | 126 | 76 | 187 | 105 | 62 | ||
| Norway | 397 | 416 | 419 | 386 | 349 | 460 | 402 | 342 | ||
| Sweden | 443 | 370 | 345 | 436 | 404 | 411 | 387 | 361 | 357 | 303 |
| Spain | 12 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 14 | |
| Catalonia | 11 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 24 | 21 | 22 | 31 |
| Italy | 143 | 139 | 161 | 167 | 154 | 175 | 158 | 160 | 169 | |
| Poland | 426 | 437 | 574 | 454 | 445 | 342 | 478 | 540 | 714 | 498 |
England and Wales, 1996 to 2025
| Year | Rank | Girls | per 100,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 922 | 38 | 15.0 |
| 2024 | 638 | 61 | 23.6 |
| 2023 | 583 | 66 | 25.7 |
| 2022 | 541 | 72 | 27.3 |
| 2021 | 537 | 75 | 27.4 |
| 2020 | 617 | 62 | 23.1 |
| 2019 | 513 | 79 | 28.2 |
| 2018 | 560 | 74 | 25.7 |
| 2017 | 604 | 70 | 23.4 |
| 2016 | 768 | 51 | 16.6 |
| 2015 | 656 | 62 | 20.1 |
| 2014 | 663 | 60 | 19.6 |
| 2013 | 561 | 73 | 23.7 |
| 2012 | 679 | 61 | 18.9 |
| 2011 | 449 | 94 | 29.3 |
| 2010 | 438 | 96 | 29.9 |
| 2009 | 374 | 115 | 36.7 |
| 2008 | 341 | 132 | 41.8 |
| 2007 | 369 | 115 | 37.6 |
| 2006 | 378 | 111 | 37.1 |
| 2005 | 345 | 116 | 40.2 |
| 2004 | 313 | 129 | 45.1 |
| 2003 | 310 | 127 | 45.6 |
| 2002 | 288 | 132 | 49.4 |
| 2001 | 208 | 190 | 70.9 |
| 2000 | 238 | 172 | 63.0 |
| 1999 | 210 | 199 | 70.6 |
| 1998 | 208 | 198 | 68.5 |
| 1997 | 186 | 230 | 78.4 |
| 1996 | 192 | 230 | 77.7 |
Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.
France since 1925
Half of the babies named Carla in France since 1925 were born in or after 2003. First recorded in 1925. Her peak year there: 2004, at 544.4 per 100,000 girls.
Babies named Carla per 100,000 girls born in France, by five-year period. Her 2004 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.
Sources: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (1900-2025), Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.
Sister names for Carla
1 in 1,921 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Carla.
1 in 2,641 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Carla.
1 in 2,236 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Carla.
1 in 2,113 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Carla.
1 in 2,556 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Carla.
1 in 2,429 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Carla. Same first letter as Carla.
1 in 1,760 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Carla.
1 in 782 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Carla.
1 in 3,018 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Carla.
1 in 1,509 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Carla.
Middle names for Carla
1 in 57 in Northern Ireland
Carla Grace
2-1 beats · initials CG
Changes the beat after Carla: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 71 in Scotland
Carla Olivia
2-4 beats · initials CO · Carla slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Carla: 2 syllables, then 4 syllables. Carla slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 99 in Scotland
Carla Sophia
2-3 beats · initials CS
Changes the beat after Carla: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 311 in Ireland
Carla Maria
2-3 beats · initials CM
Changes the beat after Carla: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 214 in Northern Ireland
Carla Rose
2-1 beats · initials CR
Changes the beat after Carla: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 78 in Northern Ireland
Carla Emily
2-3 beats · initials CE · Carla slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Carla: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables. Carla slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 491 in Ireland
Carla Julia
2-3 beats · initials CJ
Changes the beat after Carla: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 1,286 in England and Wales
Carla Miriam
2-3 beats · initials CM
Changes the beat after Carla: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
Same style as Carla
Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.
1 in 3,018 in Ireland
93% alike: moves with Carla across countries and decades.
1 in 1,921 in Ireland
92% alike: moves with Carla across countries and decades.
1 in 782 in Ireland
92% alike: moves with Carla across countries and decades.
1 in 5,282 in Ireland
92% alike: moves with Carla across countries and decades.
1 in 2,641 in Ireland
92% alike: moves with Carla across countries and decades.
1 in 251 in Northern Ireland
91% alike: moves with Carla across countries and decades.
1 in 491 in Ireland
91% alike: moves with Carla across countries and decades.
1 in 754 in Ireland
91% alike: moves with Carla across countries and decades.
Famous people named Carla
Carla Bruni, Carla Gugino, Carla Del Ponte, Carla Suárez Navarro, Carla Juri, Carla Bley, Carla Fracci and Carla Simón.
Show all 8Show less
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Italian and French singer, model and spouse of former president of France born 1967
-
American actress born 1971
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International jurist born 1947
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Spanish tennis player born 1988
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Swiss actress born 1985
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American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader (1936–2023)
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Italian ballet dancer and actress (1936–2021)
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Spanish-Catalan film director and screenwriter (born 1986)
People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.
Questions about Carla
4 questions, on how popular she is, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.
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How popular is Carla?
Her best rank is No. 14 in Spain in 2024. She is in the published lists of 19 of our 40 regions.
How do you pronounce Carla?
KAR-luh, with 2 syllables.
Is Carla getting more popular?
Over five years: rising in 4 of 15 regions, falling in 6.
Which sister names go with Carla?
The deck's top five sisters for Carla: Alicia, Lisa, Elsa, Elisa and Erika. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.