Meaning & Story
From Latin Carolina, the Latinate feminine form of Carolus (Charles), meaning free man or man. Carolina is associated with the American Southeast states of North and South Carolina, the azalea-scented, magnolia-lined landscapes of the American South.
Carolina has the warm, honeysuckle-scented air of the American South built right into it — it evokes long porches, summer thunderstorms, and a particular gracious ease. It is also internationally beautiful, widely used in Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese-speaking cultures with slightly different but equally lovely phonetics. As a pet name it suits a warm, gentle, thoroughly gracious female who makes everyone around her feel comfortable and cared for.