Carlyle

Where Carlyle comes from

The dictionaries list Carlyle as a given name — a unisex given name transferred from the surname — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • From a surname
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1884
    Carlyle Blackwell born
    American silent film actor, director, and producer
  2. 1892
    First appearance
    #1,066 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1918
    Peak, #564
    115 babies named Carlyle — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1932
    Carlyle Glean born
    Grenadian politician
  5. 1934
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #853.
  6. 2009
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Carlyle Glean · Grenadian politician, 1932–2021
  • Carlyle Blackwell · American silent film actor, director, and producer, 1884–1955
  • Carlyle Smith Beals · Canadian astronomer, 1899–1979
  • Carlyle Tapsell · field hockey player, 1909–1975
  • Carlyle A. Luer · American botanist, 1922–2019

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.