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With a happy birthday to my darling daughter, today’s Baby Name of the Day is Caroline.
We think of the regal Caroline as a classic, and she has ranked in the US Top 1000 in every year since the first year data was collected, 1880.
But she hasn’t always been a popular pick, even in recent years. In the 1950s, Caroline was eclipsed by variant spelling Carolyn, a name that reached the Top Ten in 1942. From 1936 to 1950, Carol was a Top Ten option for girls.
The Germanic Karl is the starting point for all of these, and his meaning is usually given as simply man. Sometimes you’ll see Caroline’s meaning listed as womanly; that’s a stretch. Karl’s descendants range from Charles and Charlotte to Carlos and Carly. A surprising number of them are big today, in the US and elsewhere.
Caroline is the French feminine form, but the woman who brought the name to English was a German princess. Born Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach in 1683, she was quite the smart cookie. Caroline refused several marriages to Catholic monarchs to make a match with King George II of Great Britain. A new queen is enough to make any name catch on, but Caroline was especially influential, supporting writers, artists, and intellectuals. (That’s her in the portrait.)
The royal couple passed her name on to a daughter, and well-born Carolines have been around ever since. A second German-born Caroline was queen consort to King George IV of the United Kingdom in the early nineteenth century. In more recent history, Caroline Bouvier Kennedy is from the famous presidential family; she was named after her maternal aunt and maternal great-grandmother.
Add it all up, and Caroline feels like a good girl – privileged, preppy, maybe even pearl-wearing. Nameberry includes her on their Names Headed for Harvard list.
Plus, today’s parents grew up with Caroline:
- We’ve all sung along with Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”;
- Ma Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie was Caroline;
- The author of the Nancy Drew series was called Carolyn Keene – even though that was just a catch-all for a group of ghostwriters;
- Lea Thompson played a single cartoonist in Caroline in the City, which ran as part of the Friends block in the 1990s;
- But the Caroline in New York City who really made an impact was Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw.
Plenty of modern Carries wear the nickname as their full name, like country singer Carrie Underwood and actress Carrie Fisher. Stephen King’s Carrie was born Carrietta.
There were also a host of notable Carolines in the nineteenth century, like First Lady Caroline Harrison, the wife of 23rd US President Benjamin Harrison and feminist writer and reformer Caroline Healey Dall. There was also the aristocratic Lady Caroline Lamb, remembered for her scandalous affair with Lord Byron.
Parents are embracing Caroline for dozens of reasons today. She’s the kind of classic name that will always rebound. She’s nickname-rich, but doesn’t need one.
Possible pronunciation woes come with any of the -line names, but it seems to be the KARE oh line pronunciation that’s much in favor now. Blame it on Neil Diamond – whoa, ho, ho.
Bek says
October 2, 2010 at 7:01 PMA bit behind, but happy birthday, Clio!
appellationmountain says
October 2, 2010 at 9:36 AMThanks for all the birthday wishes! At the moment, she’s celebrating by un-doing the Lego creations her big brother built. Fortunately, he’s pretty patient.
Lady Gwyn says
October 2, 2010 at 12:17 AMI think Caroline is beautiful, and woefully underused. I like the nickname Carly, but Callie is cute, too.
appellationmountain says
October 2, 2010 at 9:35 AMClio might’ve been called Callie. Except Alexander is Aly … we didn’t see that one coming, but the nickname stuck so firmly that Callie was out. (Plus, I worried she’d be confused with Kelly, Kaylee, etc.) So Clio she is … and instead, she’s mistaken for Chloe. 🙂
Eva says
October 2, 2010 at 11:37 AMI know a Chloe, and our 60 year old Sunday School teacher always called her Clio. I guess it works both ways.
English Kate says
October 1, 2010 at 5:40 PMHappy birthday to the impeccably named Clio! 🙂
I love the description of Caroline as the ‘epitome of effortless elegance’ – so true. In fact, the older I get, the more I fall for Caroline’s oh-so-subtle charms. Plus, as a previous poster has already mentioned, she is ridiculously underused in the UK which gives her extra brownie points in my book!
Lola says
October 1, 2010 at 5:32 PMCaroline’s one of my favorite classics! I’d use it in the middle to honor my good friend Caroline. What a simply beautiful name. 🙂
Happy Birthday Clio, and many, many more!
julie says
October 1, 2010 at 4:55 PMOne of my great-great-grandmothers was named Karolina and both of my brothers picked the name Caroline if they had a daughter. In both cases they had boys, but part of me still feels like I’d be “stealing” if I would used the name.
Despite my personal trepidation, I still love the name and the nickname Callie.
Happy Birthday Clio!
Names4Real says
October 1, 2010 at 4:25 PMHappy birthday to Clio!
Kayt says
October 1, 2010 at 3:38 PMHappy happy birthday! I can’t believe that she’s two already! Good lord, that means James is creeping towards two, huh?
I love Caroline. It was a great choice, and one that we have as a backup name for a future daughter if Daphne doesn’t feel right.
Well, hugs to Miss Clio, and happy birthday again!
appellationmountain says
October 2, 2010 at 9:33 AMYup … time flies! 🙂
Sara says
October 1, 2010 at 3:15 PMHi! Happy birthday and beautiful name! Being from the South, I also know many girls named Caroline. All pronounce it as you said. How do you pronounce it?
appellationmountain says
October 2, 2010 at 9:32 AMDefinitely LINE, as in a straight line. My neighbor named her daughter Caroline, said the same way.
caroline says
October 1, 2010 at 3:09 PMCaroline is my all-time favorite name. I have always loved it and always will. It’s my Witness Protection Program name (should I ever need one!) and, obviously, my pseudonym on this blog. I think Caroline comes across as the perfect combination of patrician and girl-next-door. It is the epitome of effortless elegance. I will never have a little Caroline, however, because I live in the South where it is highly popular. I probably know of 50 Carolines, from young to old.
appellationmountain says
October 2, 2010 at 9:31 AMLOL – here’s hoping you never need to use Caroline anywhere but here!
Laney McDonald says
October 1, 2010 at 3:04 PMHappy birthday Clio!
Hope you have a great day! ^__^
I really like Caroline. Very beautiful and classy name.
Charlotte Vera says
October 1, 2010 at 2:20 PMHappy birthday, Clio! I was pleasantly surprised when one of my many friends who were pregnant as the same time as I was (with Roseanna) named her daughter Caroline. Little Caroline is about to be joined by a sibling in a few weeks, so I’m looking forward to finding out what the next one’s named.
Joy says
October 1, 2010 at 1:58 PMIf I’m lucky enough to have a daughter, her name will be Caroline, honoring my mother, Carol Joy. I love other girl names, particularly Louisa and Natalie, but Caroline is the only one that will find its way onto a birth certificate.
Havoye says
October 1, 2010 at 10:17 AMI think the fact that there are two commonly used pronunciations of Caroline out there makes people tend to shy away from the name, but it’s definitely high on my list of favourites. I’m not wild about any of the nickname options but, as you say, it doesn’t need one.
Happy birthday to your daughter! It was interesting to read about how your children’s names came about.
Sebastiane says
October 1, 2010 at 10:10 AMCaroline is a lovely, timeless classic. Clio is such a sweet nickname. Happy Birthday Clio!
Angela says
October 1, 2010 at 8:49 AMYou referred to “Carolyn” as a variant spelling, but it also has a different pronunciation. I would call it a derivation.
appellationmountain says
October 2, 2010 at 9:30 AMThat’s a nice point, Angela. You’re quite right.
fran says
October 1, 2010 at 6:27 AMhappy birthday clio! hope she has a great day! i do love caroline, it’s timeless and beautiful and ridicously under used in the uk. it does come off as a little too much of a good girl name to me though and i think thats probably has put me of using it since my favourite girls names aren’t really on the preppy side of things