Carl
Feminine · “free man”
Carl is given to boys far more often — 504,827 boys against 3,190 girls since 1880. See Carl as a boy name
Sweden writes Carl where Germany writes Karl, and the difference has held for centuries. The Swedish kings are Carl, the German emperors were Karl, and American records show the two spellings arriving with two different immigrations and staying apart.
How old is the name Carl?
Carl first appears in US birth records in 1885 — 140 years ago. The typical Carl alive today was born around 1943, making them about 82 years old. About 1,600 people named Carl are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Carl most popular?
Carl peaked in 1888, reaching #837 nationally. See the whole 1888 chart.
Where it comes from
From karl to Carl
The story of Carl
The name is one of the most-used in European history and English has ended up with three separate versions of it, treated as three names: Charles from French, Carl from Scandinavia, Karl from Germany. A man called Charles in England, Carl in Sweden and Karl in Germany is not carrying variants of a name — he is carrying the same name, spelled by the language that handed it over. American records show the split clearly: the c spelling clusters where Swedish and Norwegian families settled, the k where German ones did, and Charles runs above both of them as the English default.
Meaning
free man
The Germanic root behind the name meant a man of no particular rank — not noble, not enslaved, simply free. It is the same word that gave English churl, which traveled in the opposite direction and became an insult.
How the name formed
- karl
- Carl
Related forms: Carl · Karl · Charles · Carlos · Carlo
Pronouncing Carl
KARL
One syllable, rhyming with snarl. Said the same way in English, Swedish and German; only the spelling moves.
Nicknames for Carl
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1885
- Most girls named
- 192757 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #837reached in 1888
- Change vs 1992
- −45.5%6 in 1994, from 11
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Carl in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Carl in Swedish — same name
- Karl in German — spelling variant
- Charles in English — related form
- Carlos in Spanish — related form
- Carlo in Italian — related form
Carls among us
people named Carl are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Carl sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- One syllable, four letters, and no possible mispronunciation.
- It is a standing name across Scandinavia, Germany and the English-speaking world.
- It has an unbroken run in American records from the first year they were kept.
- It works well in front of long surnames, where fuller names get crowded.
- Karl is the other standard spelling and will be written for you regularly.
- It is strongly associated with the first half of the twentieth century in America.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of girls, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
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What they receive
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Carl
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Carls are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Carl are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Carl in 2025?
- Carl is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Carl with classmates?
- Carl will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Carl? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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