Name of the Week: Caroline

Origin:

Caroline is the Anglicised form of Carolina, an Italian diminutive form of Latin Carola which itself was the feminine form of Carolus.  Carolus is the Latinised form of the Germanic name Karl which meant "man, husband."  The word karl itself is thought to stem from the Proto-Germanic *karlaz "little man, young man"; a term which extended through languages across Europe. In Old English, ceorl (later a carl or churl) referred to a freeman: a status between a noble and a serf. They held the right to bear arms, attend local courts, and payed dues directly to the king. In Slavic languages, the word came to mean "king" thanks to the Carolingian dynasty (e.g. Polish krol, Lithuanian karalius, Czech and Slovak král, Russian король).

Usage:

The Italian Carolina spread into Germany, and from there into Britain in the late 16th century. I have been able to find baptism records online for Caroline Chompfield in 1571, Carolina Bayly in 1588 in Dorset, Caroline Miller in Norfolk in 1589, Caroline Barnes in 1600 in Hampshire, a Caroline Stocke in 1605 in Somerset.  It was rare at first, but baptism records increase across the 17th century. It was most likely adopted in further numbers in honour of King Charles I (1600-1649) whose Latin regnal name was Carolus Rex. The Province of Carolina, named in his honour, was established in 1629 which later became the A North and South Carolina. Smith Bannister's rankings for 1538-1700 from forty English parishes does not have the name ranking within the top 50 during this period, however, Leslie Dunkling's rankings for 1700 puts Caroline at #48.  In 1714, George I came to the British throne, starting the Hanoverian age. George I already had adult children and young grandchildren when he became king. His son and heir, George Augustus (later George II) had married Caroline of Ansbach (1683–1737), daughter of Margrave John Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach in 1705 and, by 1714, the couple had four children (Frederick, Anne, Amelia and Caroline). Caroline came to Britain in 1714 and was invested as Princess of Wales: the first woman to bear the title since Catherine of Aragon. She became queen consort in 1727.  Queen Caroline was known for her intelligence and compassion and was widely mourned when she died in 1737. In 1733, Voltaire wrote of her, "I must say that despite all her titles and crowns, this princess was born to encourage the arts and the well-being of mankind; even on the throne she is a benevolent philosopher; and she has never lost an opportunity to learn or to manifest her generosity."* Here is Lucy Worsley's take on Caroline in the BBC series The First Georgians: Queen Caroline had a daughter—Princess Caroline of Great Britain (1713–1757)—and a granddaughter—Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (1751-1775) named in her honour, which firmly cemented the name into British royalty in the 18th century.  In 1795, another German princess, Caroline of Brunswick (1768–1821)—whose mother was the granddaughter of George II and Caroline of Ansbach—married George, Prince of Wales (later George IV). She became queen consort in 1820, but died in the following year. Caroline and her husband had a very strained marriage, and while her husband was extremely disliked by the public, Caroline was immensely popular.  England and Wales All of these royal Caroline's had a direct impact on the popularity of the name; by 1800, the name ranked #32 according to Leslie Dunkling.  The name continued to grow in usage, as registration records for Caroline (as a first name) in the England and Wales Birth Index show: 1840: 1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900: 1904: 1914: 1924: 1934: 1944: 1954: 1964: 1974: 1984:  1994: #16 #19 #22 #27 #40 #54 #68 #81 *out of the top 100* *out of the top 100* *out of the top 100* #95 #62 #15 #19 #46 *out of the top 100* Caroline fell out of the top 100 after 1904, but had returned again by 1944 at #95. This makes Caroline quite unusual, as many of the other names that fell out after 1904 (such as Lydia, Harriet, Eliza, Ella) didn't return until the 1990s at the earliest—an affect of the Four Generation Rule.  One of the most likely reasons for Caroline's early return was the popularity of other variant names which had all appeared in the top 100 between 1934 and 1943. By 1944, Carol ranked #12, Carole ranked #27 and Carolyn ranked #76. Carole and Carolyn fell out after 1964, while Carol lasted until 1974. Caroline, on the other hand, rose to a peak of #15 in 1964 and only fell out of the top 100 in 1994—interestingly, just as Caroline entered the top 100 in America for the first time. Click to enlarge Thanks to Caroline's 1960s peak, the name is currently in its nadir—credit it's being in the "Second Generation" (i.e. the names of the mothers of new parents) of the Four Generation Rule alongside Karen, Deborah and Diane.  From 1996 to 2007, Caroline was on a steady decline in England and Wales, falling from #182 to #716. Since then, it has more or less plateaued just into the top 1000.  In 2017, Caroline ranked #1063 with 33 births in England and Wales. Interestingly, this overall rank in England and Wales of #1063 is quite polarised regionally. In several regions, Caroline did not rank at all as it was given to fewer than three children in these regions in 2017. Indeed, Caroline only ranked in four regions, and was most common in the North West and London:  N. East N. West Yorkshire E. Midlands W. Midlands East London S. East S. West Wales --  #729 -- -- --  #887  #771  #1105  --  -- Scotland Caroline had much the same story in Scotland. It ranked #74 in 1900, #52 in 1950 and #21 in 1975. Click to enlarge From 1974 to 1986, Caroline ranked in the top 50 of Scotland. As with England and Wales, it fell out of the top 100 in 1994. In 2018, Caroline ranked 1571 with 1 birth in Scotland.

Famous Bearers:

Royalty: * Caroline of Ansbach (1683–1737), queen consort of George II of Great Britain. * Princess Caroline of Great Britain (1713–1757), third daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach. * Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (1751-1775), Queen consort of Christian VII of Denmark and Norway and daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales.  * Caroline of Brunswick (1768–1821), queen consort of George IV of the United Kingdom. * Caroline of Baden (1776-1841), Queen consort of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. * Caroline Bonaparte (1782–1839), queen consort of Joachim, King of Naples and sister of Napoleon I.  * Caroline Gibert (1793–1879), Princess Consort and regent de facto of Monaco. * Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1796–1881), queen consort of Denmark. * Caroline, Princess of Hanover (born 1957), eldest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco and Grace Kelly. History: * Caroline Herschel (1750–1848), German astronomer. * Caroline Bardua (1781–1864), German painter. * Lady Caroline Lamb (1785–1828), Anglo-Irish aristocrat and novelist.  * Caroline Ridderstolpe (1793–1878), Swedish composer. * Caroline Howard Gilman (1794–1888), American writer. * Caroline Clive (1801–1873), English writer. * Caroline Chisholm (1808–1877), English social reformer in Australia. * Caroline Leigh Gascoigne (1813-1883), British poet, writer. * Caroline Chesebro' (1825–1873), American writer. * Caroline Shawk Brooks (1840–1913), American sculptor. * Caroline Brown Buell (1843-1927), American activist. Contemporary: * Caroline Graham (born 1931), English author and screenwriter. * Caroline Herzenberg (born 1932), American physicist. * Caroline Kennedy (born 1957), author, attorney and daughter of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. * Caroline Stoll (born 1960), American former tennis player. * Caroline Aherne (1963–2016), British comedian, actress and writer. * Caroline Rhea (born 1964), Canadian actor. * Caroline Byrne (1970-1995), Australian model. * Caroline Dhenin (born 1973), French tennis player. * Caroline Flack (born 1979), British television presenter. * Caroline Delas (born 1980), French rower. * Caroline Shaw (born 1982), American Pulitzer Prize-winning composer. * Caroline D'Amore (born 1984), American chef, model and actress. * Caroline Winberg (born 1985), Swedish model. * Caroline Burckle (born 1986), American swimmer. Literature and Other Media: * Caroline Bingley, a character from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813). * Caroline Forbes, one of the protagonists on the TV series The Vampire Diaries. * Caroline Ingalls, mother of Laura Ingalls in the Litte House books and Little House on the Prairie TV show.  * Caroline Mathers, a character in John Green's novel The Fault in Our Stars (2012).

Variants:

Carolina (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish), Karolina (Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian, Macedonian, Lithuanian, German), Karoline (German, Danish, Norwegian), Karoliina (Finnish)

Pronunciation:

CA-rə-līn (UK), ka-ro-LEE-nə (German), KA-rər-leen (French) [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Carrie, Cara, Caro, Callie, Caddy, Cora, Carol, Carly, Lina, Linny, Ro, Kaja

Sibling Names:

Josephine     Catherine     Alexandra     Henrietta      Philippa     Helena  Robert     Stephen     Frederick     Nicholas     Jonathan     Laurence

Name Lists:

Royal British Names   Royal European Names   Gorgeously Georgian  Jane Austen Names   Bronte Names   Dickensian Names   Tennyson Names

 

If you like Caroline you may also like:   Madeleine, Cassandra, Rosanna, Louisa, Cecilia, Susannah, Constance, Lavinia, Marianne, Georgiana

Thanks to Caroline for requesting this name.