Carmen
Pronounced K AA1 R M AH0 N (ARPABET)
- 2 syllables
- Peaked 1960
- 144 years in use
- 5 spellings
How popular is Carmen?
Carmen is a name given to both boys and girls, and first appears in 1881. It has been given to 187,591 children — the 276th most common girls' name on record.
It has been slipping, down 30% on the previous decade. Its best single year was 1960, when 2,571 children were given it.
Five other spellings are counted in that total — Carmine, Carmon, Carman and two more — because they are pronounced identically.
Roughly 18% of children named Carmen are boys, so the split is a real one rather than a rounding error.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Carmen and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Carmine
- Carmon
- Carman
- Karman
- Karmen
Characteristics
- 2 syllables
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- K AA1 R M AH0 N
- Stress pattern:
- 10
- Syllables:
- 2
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Carmen
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Carmen
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Carmen?
- Carmen ranks 276th among girls' names in US records, with 187,591 births since 1881. Over the past decade it accounts for 9,206.
- Is Carmen a unisex name?
- Yes. About 18% of children given the name are boys, which is a genuine split rather than a rounding error.
- When was Carmen most popular?
- 1960, when 2,571 children were given the name. It has been in use for 144 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Carmen spelled?
- Carmine, Carmon, Carman, Karman, Karmen. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.