Caroline

Where Caroline comes from

Borrowed in the 17th century from French Caroline, from Italian Carolina or its etymon Latin Carolīna, from Latin Carolus (“Charles”), from Middle High German Karl, + -īna (feminine diminutive suffix). By surface analysis, Carol (male given name) + -ine (feminine diminutive suffix). Doublet of Carolina.
— Wiktionary's entry for Caroline
  • Germanic
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1750
    Caroline Herschel born
    German-British astronomer
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #75 among girls — 306 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1990
    Caroline Wozniacki born
    Danish tennis player
  4. 2017
    Peak, #55
    4,294 babies named Caroline — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from the Germanic languages.
Namesakes
  • Caroline Wozniacki · Danish tennis player, born 1990
  • Caroline Herschel · German-British astronomer, 1750–1848
  • Caroline Kennedy · American author and diplomat, born 1957
  • Caroline of Ansbach · Queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland from 1727 to 1737, 1683–1737
  • Caroline Bonaparte · Queen of Naples and Sicily, 1782–1839

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.