NameCensus.

UK girl's name

Carrie

A feminine name of English origin meaning "innocent, pure".

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Carrie is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Carrie popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #4192, with 5 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1996, with 97 births.

This profile covers 953 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 5% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 2,588 living people in the UK are called Carrie. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Carrie ranked #4192 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 5 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 1996, when 97 girls were registered as Carrie.
  • Carrie ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #397 in 2020.
  • About 2,588 living people in the UK are estimated to have Carrie as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#4192

2024

Births in 2024

5

Latest year

Peak year

1996

97 births

Estimated living

2,588

2026

Meaning

What does Carrie mean?

The name Carrie derives from the Late Latin name Caria, which was a medieval feminine form of the masculine name Carus. Carus was a Roman family name that meant "beloved" or "dear" in Latin. The name Carrie emerged as a diminutive or pet form of this name during the Middle Ages.

The name Caria can be traced back to ancient Rome, where it was used as a feminine form of the name Carus. The earliest recorded use of Caria dates back to the 5th century AD. During this time, it was a relatively uncommon name, primarily used by families of Roman descent.

In the 9th century, the name Caria evolved into the Old French form "Chere," which later became "Chiere" in Anglo-Norman French. This form was introduced to England after the Norman Conquest in 1066, and it eventually evolved into the English name Carrie.

One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Carrie was Carrie Blake, an English Puritan settler who was born in 1609 and emigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1638. Another notable early bearer of the name was Carrie Amelia Moore Nation (1846-1911), an American radical member of the temperance movement.

In literature, the name Carrie gained prominence through the novel "Carrie" by Stephen King, published in 1974. The book's titular character, Carrie White, was a bullied high school student with telekinetic powers. The success of the novel and its film adaptation helped popularize the name in the United States.

Other famous individuals named Carrie throughout history include:

1. Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947), an American women's rights activist and a leader of the women's suffrage movement. 2. Carrie Underwood (born 1983), an American country music singer and songwriter who rose to fame after winning the fourth season of American Idol. 3. Carrie Fisher (1956-2016), an American actress and writer best known for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars film franchise. 4. Carrie Newcomer (born 1958), an American singer-songwriter and author known for her folk and spiritually-oriented music. 5. Carrie Lam (born 1957), a Hong Kong politician and the current Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Carrie over time

The chart below shows babies named Carrie registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Carrie, the clearest high point is 1996. The latest England and Wales figure is 5 births in 2024, compared with 97 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Carrie
024497397199620102024

Decades

Carrie by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Carrie was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #3444 34 5
2010s #1619 205 10
2000s #728 431 10
1990s #452 283 4

Geography

Where Carrie is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Carrie. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Carrie ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #397 in 2020.

Scotland
5
Northern Ireland
3

Across the UK

Carrie in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#558 in 2021

47 years of NRS records, 1,587 total registered

Northern Ireland (NISRA)

#397 in 2020

18 years of NISRA records, 79 total registered

Related

Names similar to Carrie

FAQ

Carrie: questions and answers

How popular is the name Carrie in the UK right now?

In 2024, Carrie was ranked #4192 for girls in England and Wales, with 5 births registered.

When was Carrie most popular?

The peak year on record was 1996, with 97 babies registered as Carrie in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Carrie?

A feminine name of English origin meaning "innocent, pure".

How many people are called Carrie in the UK?

A total of 953 babies have been registered as Carrie across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 1,587 more in Scotland and 79 in Northern Ireland.

Where is Carrie most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Carrie ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #397 in 2020. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.