Carmen
Meaning of Carmen
Carmen glides in on a warm Mediterranean breeze, carrying a double bouquet of meaning: from Latin, it translates to “song” or “poem,” while its Hebrew cousin, Karmel, paints images of a lush “garden” on Israel’s famous Mount Carmel. No wonder the name feels both melodic and earthy. Pop-culture has kept Carmen center-stage—from Bizet’s fiery opera heroine to the fruit-hat-wearing sparkle of Carmen Miranda and even the globe-trotting mystery of Carmen Sandiego—proof that this is a name that loves the spotlight without losing its grounded grace. In the U.S. charts, Carmen has danced steadily for well over a century, never too trendy to feel fleeting, never too rare to feel unfamiliar—much like a favorite song that’s always on your playlist. For parents seeking a name that hums with artistry, heritage, and a dash of playful swagger, Carmen may hit all the right notes.
Pronunciation
Spanish
- Pronunced as KAHR-men (/karˈmen/)
British English
- Pronunced as KAHR-mən (/kɑːmən/)
American English
- Pronunced as KAHR-mən (/kɑrmən/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Carmen
| Carmen Miranda was a Brazilian singer, dancer and actress born in Portugal, nicknamed the Brazilian Bombshell and famed for her fruit hat costumes in American films. |
| Carmen Electra is an American actress, model, and singer who started as a Prince protege with a 1993 album and found fame as Lani McKenzie on Baywatch in the late 1990s. |
| Carmen Amaya Amaya, known as La Capitana, was a Spanish Romani flamenco dancer and singer from the Somorrostro district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. |
| Carmen Sevilla was a celebrated Spanish actress, singer, and dancer who rose to fame from the 1940s to the 1970s, later hosted television from 1991 to 2010, and at her death was among the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. |
| Carmen Carrera is an American reality TV star, model, and actress known for RuPaul's Drag Race and as a transgender woman and rights activist. |
| Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer regarded as one of the most influential 20th century jazz vocalists, known for her behind the beat phrasing and ironic lyric interpretation. |
| Carmen Maria Machado is an American author, essayist, and critic best known for Her Body and Other Parties and her 2019 memoir In the Dream House, winner of the 2021 Folio Prize. |
| Carmen Rupe was a pioneering New Zealand trans woman and drag icon who became the first celebrity drag queen in New Zealand and a prominent activist against discrimination and for HIV and AIDS awareness. |
| María del Carmen Laffón de la Escosura was a Spanish figurative painter and sculptor, a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando from 1998 until her death, and in 2017 received the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise. |
| Carmen Fariña - Carmen Farina, appointed by Bill de Blasio in 2013, served as New York City Schools Chancellor and led the Department of Education, becoming the first since Rudy Crew with schools supervision training. |
| Carmen Robertson - Carmen L. Robertson is a Canadian art historian and writer who serves as a Canada Research Chair at Carleton University and is known for championing Indigenous artists and scholarship on Norval Morrisseau. |
| Carmen Dominicci Ramos is a Puerto Rican travel blogger, journalist, and US news anchor who began as a model and actress, won five Emmy Awards, and was named by People en Espanol one of the 50 Most Beautiful in 2010. |
| Maria del Carmen Garcia Maura is a celebrated Spanish actress with a six decade career and a record three Goya Best Actress awards, plus a Cesar in 2012 and a Cannes award in 2006. |
| Carmen Maria Pursifull, a 1950s New York Latin dance and music figure, later became an Illinois free verse poet and 2003 Poet Laureate finalist, and since 2009 has been a public TV personality in Champaign-Urbana. |
| Carmen Guerrero Nakpil - Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil was a celebrated Filipina journalist, author, historian, and public servant who received the Southeast Asian Writers Award. |
