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I like Caroline and Carol better, but Carolyn is fine. I like the nickname Carrie because it seems the most natural. Other than Caro (which I'm not crazy about because it makes me think of Karo syrup), I think a case could be made for the nicknames Cara, Lyn, Lynnie, Ro, Cally, or Arrow. But I think when nicknames aren't typical or obvious, it's better to let them develop naturally, like when a sibling can't quite pronounce the new baby's name and the name they call the baby evolves into the nickname. If my name were Carolyn, I think I'd just go by the full name.

I tend to like the -lyn version over the usual -line version,
prefer the Carolin spelling with NN Caro.

I like Carolyn. One advantage is that there are no pronunciation issues, as there might be with Caroline (I have heard of some Carolines who pronounce their names the same as Carolyn).

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Carolyn doesn't seem to lend itself to nicknames, IMO.

Hi !!!

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I have only one link with Carolyn: Carolyn Smith a talented British dancer and judge in many competitions also in Italy.

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I much prefer Carol and Charlotte or even Charlène and Charlize.

One of my closest women friends is a Carolyn - her parents thought it was less common than Caroline!

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When she was tiny, her best shot at pronouncing it was Calloryn. She therefore became Cal in the family, though not at school. I call her Cal; so does her husband and, I think, all her friends. We sometimes alternate it with Carolyn.

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At school at one time there was a genuine Caroline in her class whose nn (at home and at school, I think) was Curry, like the spicy stew. When she left the school, her nn lived on and became used for Carolyn. She remained Curry to most people until we all went to uni and became adult and respectable!

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I named my daughter Caroline, which I find more classic and therefore more ... I dunno ... acceptable? durable? People assume that I was honouring Carolyn, but I don't think I was; the baby looked like a Caroline and that was it.

I'd rather just be Carol.

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It sounds like someone mumbled caroling (carolin'). I like Ro as a NN, but that wouldn't seem like a natural shortening of the name to me.

I like it better than Caroline, it's less downbeat and glum. I don't like it well enough to want to use it or have it as my name.
No nns that I wouldn't rather just use on their own.