The song “Carrie Anne” by the British band The Hollies came out in May of 1967. It had been written by band member Graham Nash about singer Marianne Faithfull, but Graham was too shy to use Marianne’s real name in the lyrics, so “Carrie Anne” was substituted. The song peaked at #9 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart a few months later, in August.
The same year, various versions of the name debuted in the U.S. baby name data. It wasn’t until the next year, though, that the spelling Carrie Anne finally showed up:
| Name | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
| Carrieann | . | 20* | 27 | 18 |
| Kariann | . | 17 | 17 | 20 |
| Carianne | . | 11* | 8 | 9 |
| Karianne | . | 6* | 19 | 17 |
| Cariann | . | 5* | 13 | 16 |
| Carriann | . | 5* | 8 | . |
| Carrianne | . | . | 10* | 5 |
| Carrieanne | . | . | 7* | 6 |
| Totals: | . | 64 | 109 | 91 |
Here’s the band performing the song in 1969. (Graham Nash had moved on to Crosby, Stills & Nash by this point, so he’s not part of the performance.)
Similar names featuring “Kerry,” like Kerrianne, also saw higher usage in the late ’60s. Three of these Kerry-variants (Kerryanne, Kerianne, & Keriann) debuted in ’68.
One non-U.S baby who was named Carrie Anne in 1967 was Canadian actress Carrie-Anne Moss, who went on to star in The Matrix as Trinity — the character that popularized the baby name Trinity impressively during the early 2000s.
The song was also one of the factors behind the swift rise of the name Carrie during the 1970s:
- 1972: 5422 baby girls named Carrie
- 1971: 5976 baby girls named Carrie
- 1970: 4976 baby girls named Carrie
- 1969: 3887 baby girls named Carrie
- 1968: 3978 baby girls named Carrie
- 1967: 3196 baby girls named Carrie
- 1966: 2475 baby girls named Carrie
“Carrie Anne” kicked things off, but the rise was later fueled by actress Caroline “Carrie” Snodgress of the film Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970), the Stephen King book Carrie (1974), and the book-based movie Carrie (1976) — which featured Piper Laurie and a young John Travolta.
The baby name Carrie saw peak usage in 1976 and 1977, reaching 28th place in the rankings both years.
Do you like the name Carrie? How about the combo Carrie Anne?
Sources: The Hollies, Carrie-Anne, Chart History | Billboard, Carrie Anne – Wikipedia, Who’s that girl? Meet the muses who inspired some of our most iconic pop songs – Daily Mail
