Carly

Feminine diminutive of Carl

"free man"

Carly Origin and Meaning

The name Carly is a girl's name meaning "free man".

Though a couple of its more "creative" spellings—Carli and Karlee, for example—are still on the rise, this feminine form of Carl, popularized by singer Carly Simon in the 1970s, could by no stretch be considered fashionable. Despite its decline, the name has still seen some use in the entertainment industry, from Nickelodeon's iCarly to Canadian pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen.

Carly Rank in US Top 1000

# 873 in the US

Carly Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 971 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Carly

• 873 US 2024
• 971 Nameberry 2025
• 951 England 2017
• 99 Scotland 2015

20 Names Similar to Carly

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Carly.

• Haley
• Kelsey
• Caitlyn
• Chelsea
• Allyson
• Kaitlyn
• Becca
• Hayley
• Katelyn
• Kimberly
• Maddie
• Jamie
• Kylee
• Brooklynn
• Jenna
• Kelly
• Courtney
• Jessie
• Kristen
• Kailey

Famous People Named Carly

• Carly Elisabeth Simon American singer,songwriter
• Carly Rae Jepsen Canadian singer
• Carly Rose Sonenclar American singer
• Cara Carleton "Carly" (Sneed) Fiorina American politician; former CEO of Hewlett,Packard
• Carly Pope Canadian actress
• Carly Binding New Zealand singer of group TrueBliss
• Carly Booth Scottish golfer
• Carly Hannah Chaikin American actress
• Carly Craig American actress
• Carly Foulkes Canadian model and actress
• Carly Gullickson American tennis player
• Carly Hillman English actress
• Carly Rae Patterson American Olympic gymnast and singer
• Carly Piper American Olympic swimmer
• Carly Hunt English footballer
• Carly McKillip Canadian actress and musician
• Carly Brook Schroeder American actress
• Carly Sarah Smithson Irish singer,songwriter of band We Are the Fallen
• Carly Milne Canadian journalist and author
• Carly Paradis Canadian composer
• Carly Flynn New Zealand TV journalist
• Carly Calder Cole English reality TV personality and fitness trainer
• Carly Mitchell Telford English footballer
• Carly Paige American child actress & model
• Carly Armstrong Lawson (b. 1979), daughter of model Twiggy and actor Michael Witney; adopted daughter of actor Leigh Lawson
• Carly Ritter (b. 1982) daughter of actor John Ritter
• Carly Anne Melb Kenneally (b. 1989) daughter of TV personality Shaynna Blaze
• Carolynn Elizabeth "Carly" Davis (b. 2009 placed for adoption), biological daughter of reality TV personality Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra

The name Carly in Pop Culture

• Carlotta "Carly" Shay main character on TV's "iCarly"
• Carly main character in film "StreetDance 3D"
• Carly Witwicky character in the Transformers series
• Carly Wicks character on British soap "EastEnders"
• Caroline Leigh "Carly" Corinthos character on American soap "General Hospital"
• Carly Manning character on American soap "Days of our Lives"
• Carly Morris character on Australian soap "Home and Away"
• Carly Snyder character on American soap "As the World Turns"
• Carly Catto character on Disney's Backstage
• Carly Morgan character on TV's "Mako Mermaids"