Carolina

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ORIGIN AND HISTORY

Carolina is a variant of a variant of a variant. The short story is that Carolina is a variant of the name "Carolus," which is the Latin version of Charles.^[1] Carolina is an older version of the name than Caroline or Carol.^[1]

Though the meaning is usually considered "free man" or "freeholder," another suggested meaning is "song of happiness," from a French and Italian background.^[1]

POPULARITY

Carolina is a popular girl's name in the United States. Since 1880, which is as far back as Social Security records go, it has held a place on the top 1000 most popular names list, except for 1958 and 1959, when it dropped off the list. Peak popularity was in 2003, when it ranked at number 262. In 2007, Carolina was the 327th most popular girl's name.^[1]

Carolina is also a popular name in other countries, particularly Spanish-speaking countries such as Chile and Spain. Carolina was the 5th most popular girl's name in Chile in 1992, and the 44th most popular name in Spain in 2005. It is also popular in Sweden, where it has spent most of the 21st century in the top 200, as well as Australia and Belgium, where it sits on the lower ranks of the top 1000.^[1]

Carolina is also popular in Brazil, where it ranked 33rd in 2007,^[1] and Germany, where it ranked 128th in 2007.^[1]

FACTS

• Two states of the United States are called Carolina: North Carolina and South Carolina. They were named after King Charles I of England.^[1]

NAMESAKES

• Carolina, Alabama
• Carolina, Alamance County, North Carolina
• Carolina, Gaston County, North Carolina
• Carolina, Rhode Island
• Carolina, Puerto Rico
• Carolina, Mpumalanga, South Africa
• Carolina, Suriname
• Zuid-Carolina, Netherlands
• Carolina Biological Supply Company
• Carolina Business Furniture
• Carolina, 2004 film starring Julia Stiles and Shirley MacLaine^[1]
• The Carolina Theatre of Durham
• Carolina Herrera: bridal fashions, etc.
• Carolina Footwear: work boots
• Hotel Carolina, Athens, Greece
• Carolina Turkey

FAMOUS PERSONS

• Carolina Ardohain Dos Santos, aka "Pampita": Argentine model/actress (born January 17, 1978)
• Carolina Coronado: Spanish author (born August 21, 1821)
• Carolina Invernizio: Italian writer
• Carolina Izsak: Venezuelan beauty queen
• Carolina Kostner: Italian figure skater (born February 8, 1987)

Author: Sarena Emily Levinson, +Sabertooth

NOTES

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina