Carolyn

Where Carolyn comes from

A variant of Caroline with -lyn.
— Wiktionary's entry for Carolyn
  • Germanic
  • 3 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #163 among girls — 80 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1929
    Carolyn S. Shoemaker born
    American astronomer, researcher and university teacher
  3. 1942
    Peak, #10
    19,978 babies named Carolyn — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1959
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #42.
  5. 1966
    Carolyn Bertozzi born
    American chemist
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from the Germanic languages, a variant of Caroline used since the 19th century.
Namesakes
  • Carolyn Bertozzi · American chemist, born 1966
  • Carolyn S. Shoemaker · American astronomer, researcher and university teacher, 1929–2021
  • Carolyn Porco · American planetary scientist, born 1953
  • Carolyn Jones · American actress, 1930–1983

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.