Carla is the Italian and Spanish feminine of Carlos — from the Old Germanic karl (free man). A top-100 US baby name from 1962 to 1976. Carla Hayden (born 1952) — American librarian; the 14th Librarian of Congress (2016-2025) — the first Black person and the first woman to hold the position in the Library's 215-year history. Previously CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore (1993-2016); American Library Association president (2003-2004). Spearheaded the digitization of millions of Library of Congress holdings and the public release of free online access to historical materials. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (born 1967) — Italian-French former supermodel, singer, and First Lady of France (2008-2012) as wife of Nicolas Sarkozy. Carla Bley (1936-2023) — American jazz pianist and composer; one of the few women to lead her own big band. Carla Gugino (born 1971) — American actress (Spy Kids, Watchmen, The Haunting of Hill House). Carla Suárez Navarro — Spanish tennis player; survived Hodgkin lymphoma (2020-2021).
Featured throughout 20th-21st century culture.
In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Carla reduce to 8, The Visionary. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.