Carly

Last updated September 17, 2025

Carly is a given name, a feminine form of Carl.^[1] It is also a pet form of given names such as Carla and Caroline. Variant different spellings include Carley, Carlie, Carlee, Carleigh and Carli,^[1] as well as Karly, Karli, Karley, Karlee, Karlie and Karleigh.^[2]

The name became popular in large part, if not primarily, because of the success of Carly Simon's music in the 1970s – its first appearance in the top 1000 US baby names was in 1973, soon after her first success.^{[ citation needed ]} It was most popular in the UK, Canada and Australia in the 1980s and in the United States during the 1990s.^{[ citation needed ]} Over 2,000 American baby girls were named Carly each year between 1991 and 1998.^{[ citation needed ]}

Carly and its variants may refer to:

People

Carly Binding (born 1978), New Zealand pop singer-songwriter
Carly Booth (born 1992), Scottish professional golfer
Carly Chaikin (born 1990), American actress
Carly Cole (born 1984), British reality television contestant, fitness trainer and model
Carly Colón (born 1979), male Puerto Rican-Canadian professional wrestler
Carly Craig (born 1980), American actress
Carly Dixon (born 1973), Australian Olympic judoka
Carly Ealey, American artist best known for mural installations
Carly Fiorina (born 1954), American business executive and politician
Carly Flynn, New Zealand journalist and television presenter
Carly Foulkes (born 1988), Canadian model and actress
Carly Gullickson (born 1986), American professional tennis player
Carly Hibberd (1985–2011), Australian road cyclist
Carly Hillman (born 1983), British actress
Carly Hunt (born 1981), English footballer
Carly Janiga (born 1988), American gymnast
Carly Rae Jepsen (born 1985), Canadian recording artist and singer-songwriter
Carly McKillip (born 1989), Canadian actress and musician
Carly Melin (born 1985), American politician
Carly Milne, Canadian writer
Carly Paradis (born 1980), Canadian composer and pianist
Carly Patterson (born 1988), American gymnast and singer
Carly Pearce (born 1990), American country music singer and songwriter
Carly Piper (born 1983), American Olympic swimmer
Carly Pope (born 1980), Canadian actress
Carly Ryan (1992–2007), Australian female murder victim
Carly Schroeder (born 1990), German-American film and television actress
Carly Simon (born 1943), American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author
Carly Skelly (born 1986), English professional boxer
Carly Smithson (born 1983), Irish American soul / pop rock singer-songwriter and actress
Carly Rose Sonenclar (born 1999), American singer, songwriter, and child actress
Carly Telford (born 1987), English international football goalkeeper
Carly Wilson (born 1982), Australian basketball player

Pseudonyms

"Carly Phillips", pen name of American novelist Karen Drogin (born 1965)

Fictional characters

Carly Cardinal, mascot for the National Arbor Day Foundation
Carly Corinthos, on the American soap opera General Hospital
Carly Manning, on the American soap opera Days of Our Lives
Carly Morris, on the Australian soap opera Home and Away
Carly Shay, on the Nickelodeon series iCarly and its revival series of the same name
Carly Snyder, on the American soap opera As the World Turns
Carly Wicks, on the BBC soap opera EastEnders
Carly Witwicky, in the Transformers franchise
Carly Norris, on the film Sliver

References

1 2 Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 47.
↑ Rauwerda, Anne (10 November 2021). "Haileigh and Beighleigh and Paisleigh, oh my!". michigandaily.com. Michigan Daily. Retrieved 10 January 2023.

Hanks, P; Hardcastle, K; Hodges, F (2006) [1990]. A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.

Carly

Contents

People

Pseudonyms

Fictional characters

References

See also