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Caroll
How to Pronounce Caroll
Pronounced KAIR-uhl /หkษrษl/Medium
Meaning: Caroll is a respelling of Carroll or the male Carol. As Carroll it is an anglicized Irish surname from O Cearbhaill, containing cearbh, understood as 'fierce, valorous in battle'. As the male Carol it derives from Carolus, the Latin form of Charles, meaning 'free man'. The doubled -ll of Caroll leans toward the surname Carroll while keeping the given-name feel.Low
Popularity in the U.S. ยท SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880โpresent). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Caroll is a variant spelling that points two ways: to the Irish surname Carroll, from O Cearbhaill and its 'fierce in battle' sense, and to the older masculine Carol, a form of Charles meaning 'free man'. In the surname-as-forename fashion, American families used Carroll and its spellings for boys well into the twentieth century.
In United States records Caroll was always the minor spelling, drawing only a couple dozen boys a year even at its high around 1939 while Carroll and Carl were far more common, and the name faded as Carol became read almost wholly as female. A boy named Caroll then belongs to a great-grandfather's generation now.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Caroll mean?
It is a respelling of Carroll, an Irish surname meaning 'fierce in battle', or of the male Carol, from Charles, 'free man'.
How do you pronounce Caroll?
It's said KAIR-uhl /หkษrษl/, two syllables, stress on the first.
Is Caroll a boy or girl name?
Caroll is used here as a boy's name.
Is Caroll a popular name?
No, it was always rare, a variant of Carroll that saw only faint use as a boy's name, peaking in the nineteen-thirties.