Carlson
Masculine · “son of Karl”
Sweden froze its surnames by law in 1901. Before that, naming was genuinely patronymic: a man called Karl had a son called Karlsson and a daughter called Karlsdotter, and the surname changed every generation. The act fixed whatever name a family was using that year, which is why so many Swedes are Karlsson or Andersson.
How old is the name Carlson?
Carlson first appears in US birth records in 1920 — 105 years ago. The typical Carlson alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 600 people named Carlson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Carlson most popular?
Carlson peaked in 1943, reaching #2277 nationally. Today it ranks #12008, 9,731 places below that high. See the whole 1943 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From karl to Carlson
The story of Carlson
The Names Adoption Act of 1901 required Swedes to take a fixed family name, and most families simply kept the patronymic they were already using, which had an odd statistical consequence: a small number of very common father's names became a small number of extremely common surnames. Andersson, Johansson, Karlsson and Nilsson between them account for a large share of the country. Denmark and Norway did the same thing at around the same time with the same result. The second s went missing in America partly through clerks and partly through families simplifying, which is why Carlson, Johnson and Anderson are the American spellings and Karlsson, Johansson and Andersson the Swedish ones.
Meaning
son of Karl
A Scandinavian patronymic: Karl, from Germanic karl, a free man, with son. The Swedish spelling has two s's — Karlsson — because the possessive s and the s of son both belong there. American immigration records and American families dropped one.
How the name formed
- karl
- Karlsson
- Carlson
Related forms: Karlsson · Karlsen
Pronouncing Carlson
KARL-sun
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the second reduced. Swedish gives both s sounds their full value and the name has three syllables there, KARL-son.
Nicknames for Carlson
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
- 1920
- Most boys named
- 201619 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2277reached in 1943
- Change vs 2023
- −58.3%5 in 2025, from 12
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.
Carlson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Karlsson in Swedish — same name
- Karlsen in Norwegian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York.
Carlsons among us
people named Carlson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 341,615 born in 2025 was named Carlson
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Domnick test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Carlson's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Domnick climbed just as high around 1917, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Domnick's path sketches the road Carlson is walking now.
Carlson sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Carlson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Carlson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Germanic meaning behind one of the largest name families in Europe.
- Carl works immediately as a short form and is a full name of its own.
- The surname history is documented down to a specific act of parliament.
- It is a very common surname and reads as one, which some people like and some do not.
- Carlson, Karlsson and Carlsen are all in use and mark different countries.
- The name means son of somebody, which is worth knowing before a child asks.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Carlson
Masculine · #12008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Carlsons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Carlson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Carlson in 2025?
- Carlson ranks #12008 among US boy names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Carlson?
- About 1 in every 341,615 US boys born in 2025 was named Carlson — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Carlson with classmates?
- Carlson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Carlson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Garfield#12008 · Chas#12008 · Lew#12008 · Barney#12008 · Dewitt#12008 · Granville#12008 · Cicero#12008 · Willam#12008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Carlson? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Carlson and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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