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.
Carla reduces to one — the number of first Black Librarian of Congress.