Are you a car-lover looking for baby names that contain the word CAR?
If so, here’s a long list of options to choose from!
Top baby names with CAR
First, a quick rundown of the most popular names with the letter sequence “c-a-r,” according to the current U.S. baby name data.
| Top girl names with “c-a-r” | Top boy names with “c-a-r” |
| Scarlett Caroline Carmen Scarlet Carter Carolina Carly Scarlette Cara Carsyn | Carter Carson Carlos Oscar Ricardo Carmelo Carl Cartier Giancarlo Carlo |
Now here are the same names again, but this time around I’ve added definitions, variant forms/spellings, and links to popularity graphs.
Cara
The name Cara comes either from the Italian word cara, meaning “beloved” (which is how it’s used in the name Caramia), or the Irish word cara, meaning “friend” (as in the case of Cara Delevingne).
The name is also sometimes spelled Carra, Carah, Carrah, and Caragh.
Carl, Carlo, Carlos, Carly, Carolina, Caroline + Giancarlo
The “carl” element of all seven names above — Carl, Carlo, Carlos, Carly, Carolina, Caroline, and Giancarlo — can be traced back to the Germanic name Karl, which meant “freeman” (i.e., not a serf or slave).
Feminine forms of these names include Carla, Carlota, and Carlotta. Diminutive forms include Carlito and Carlitos.
Variant forms of Caroline include Carolyn, Carolynn, and Carolyne.
The name Carly is also sometimes spelled Carlee, Carley, Carleigh, Carlie, Carli, or Carlei.
Carmelo + Carmen
The name Carmelo was derived from the Marian title “Our Lady of Carmel.” The Biblical place-name Carmel means “garden” in Hebrew.
The name Carmen is a variant form of Carmel that was influenced by the Latin word carmen, meaning “song.”
Other forms of Carmelo include Carmela, Carmello, and Carmella. Carmel itself is also used as a name.
Carter
The name Carter comes from the English surname that originally referred to someone who’s occupation was transporting goods by cart or wagon.
Cartier
The name Cartier — which is closely associated with the French jewelry brand — comes from a French surname that has several possible derivations. In some cases, Cartier is synonymous with Carter (see above). In other cases, it refers to a location.
Carson + Carsyn
The name Carson comes from a Scottish surname of unknown derivation.
Variant spellings of the name include Carsyn, Carsen, Carsin and Carsynn.
Oscar
The origin of the name Oscar isn’t known for certain. If it comes from Old Irish, it’s made up of elements meaning “deer” and “friend.” (The second element, cara, is the same one the gave rise to the name Cara.) If it comes from Old English, on the other hand, it’s comprised of elements meaning “god” and “spear.”
Ricardo
The name Ricardo is made up of Germanic elements meaning “ruler” and “hardy.”
A variant form of the name is Riccardo. Feminine forms include Ricarda and Riccarda.
Scarlett, Scarlet + Scarlette
The name Scarlett comes from the English surname that originally referred to someone who was employed as the maker or seller of a bright (often red-colored) woolen cloth called scarlet.
It was put on the map by fictional character Scarlett O’Hara in the late 1930s.
The name is also sometimes spelled Scarlet (like the color itself), Scarlette, Scarlotte, or Scarlytt. Modern Hispanic variants include Scarleth, Escarlet, Escarlett, and Escarleth.
(Before we leave this section, I just wanted to note — for all my fellow lefties out there — that both Cara and Carter are typed entirely with the left hand on a standard QWERTY keyboard.)
More names with CAR
So, what other names have CAR in them? Here are some less-common choices. (Most of these come directly from the SSA’s baby name data.)
- Aboubacar
- Alcario
- Alucard
- Amilcar
- Boubacar
- Hamilcar
- Carabella
- Caradoc
- Caraline, Caralina
- Caralyn, Caralynn
- Carbon
- Cardale
- Cardarius
- Cardea
- Cardel, Cardell
- Cardelia
- Cardella
- Carden, Cardin, Cardon, Cardyn
- Carder
- Cardero
- Cardi
- Cardinal
- Careem
- Careen, Carreen
- Carel, Carell, Carrel, Carrell
- Careli
- Caren, Carin, Caron, Caryn
- Carena
- Caressa, Caresa, Carressa
- Caresse, Caress
- Caretha
- Caretta
- Carice
- Caricia
- Caridad
- Carilee
- Carina, Careena
- Carine, Carinne, Carrine
- Cario
- Carisma
- Carissa, Carisa, Caryssa, Carrisa, Carrissa
- Carita
- Carlasia
- Carlene, Carleen, Carlean
- Carletha, Carlethia
- Carlia, Carlea, Carleah, Carliya, Carliyah
- Carlier
- Carlin, Carlon
- Carlina, Carlena, Carleena
- Carline
- Carlis, Carliss
- Carlisa
- Carlissa
- Carlisle, Carlyle
- Carlson
- Carlton, Carleton
- Carlynn, Carlyn
- Carma
- Carmani
- Carmelia
- Carmesha, Carmeshia
- Carmi, Carmie
- Carmilla
- Carmin
- Carmina
- Carmine
- Carmisha
- Carmo
- Carnation
- Carnel, Carnell
- Carnelia
- Carnella
- Carnetta
- Carney, Carnie
- Carnesha, Carneshia
- Carnisha
- Carnita
- Carol, Carole, Carrol, Carroll, Caryl
- Carola
- Carolann, Carolanne
- Carold
- Caroldean, Caroldine
- Carolee, Caralee
- Caroleen, Carolene
- Caroleena
- Carolen, Carolena
- Caroletta, Carolette
- Carolin
- Carolus
- Carpenter
- Carper
- Carr
- Carranza
- Carrera
- Carrick
- Carriana, Carrianna, Carianna, Cariana
- Carrie, Carri, Carey, Cary, Carie, Cari
- Carrieann, Carrieanne, Carriann, Carrianne, Cariann, Carianne
- Carrigan
- Carrington
- Carshena
- Carsten, Carston
- Cartavious
- Cartez
- Cartha
- Carthel
- Carti
- Cartina
- Cartisha
- Cartrell
- Caruso
- Carvel, Carvell
- Carver
- Carvin
- Carwyn, Carwin
- Carys, Caris, Carris
- Carzell
- Encarna
- Encarnación
- Dacari
- Decari
- Giscard
- Icarus
- Jacari, Jhacari
- Jocari
- Licarayén
- Lucario
- Macarena
- Macari
- Macaria
- Macario
- Macarius
- McArthur, MacArthur
- McCartney
- Policarpia
- Policarpio
- Tocara, Tocarra, Toccara, Toccarra
- Zacarias
- Zacariah, Zacaria
- Zacari, Zacary
- Zaccaria
Some of these names could be considered variants of the more popular CAR-names, but it can be hard to tell. For instance, Caralynn — is it a form of Caroline? Is it Cara + Lynn? (Maybe a bit of both?) Others are non-traditional spellings of more common names, such as Karim, Karen, and Cornelia.
Finally, if you’d like to check out popularity graphs for any of the names in this post, just look below for the long list of tags. Each tag is a name, so find the name you’re interested in and click through. The graph will take a moment to load — it’s grabbing a lot of data — but it will allow you to see at a glance the name’s current and historical U.S. usage.
Sources:
- SSA
- Wiktionary
- Behind the Name
- Hanks, Patrick. (Ed.) Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
[Latest update: Aug. 2022]
