Carl

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Charles in US United States, GB United Kingdom, AU Australia and 12 more, Karl in DE Germany, SE Sweden, AT Austria and 3 more and Karel in CZ Czechia, NL Netherlands, BE Belgium.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 11 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Carl is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name287K records spelled Carl17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Philippines, Brazil, Argentina

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Çârl, Çarl, Cârl, Čarl, Cárl

• Czech given name26K records spelled Carl188 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Czechia, Poland, United States, Slovakia

  Languages: Czech, Polish, Russian

  Also written Karel, Karol, Charles, Карл, Karl

97 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Carl is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In pi, Probably the name of a celestial musician, or perhaps a musical instrument (VvA.94).

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh)

• In English, Form of Charles, used occasionally in Ireland.

  as a name·Irish first names

• A form of Charles which occurs in several North European languages, e.g. German. It is used from time to time in Ireland. Travel, films and literature may all have contributed to its use there. Karl, an alternative spelling, is also found.

  as a name·Irish first names

• From an old-fashioned German spelling variant of Karl, the German version of Charles. It is now increasingly used in the English-speaking world, and for some reason is particularly popular in Wales.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In pi, Probably the name of a celestial musician, or, perhaps, of a musical instrument.1 V v A . 94; but see note on p. 372, also p. 211, where Carl is omitted from the list.

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Carl Linnaeusb. 1707SESwedish botanist, physician, and zoologist (1707–1778)
• Carl Spittelerb. 1845CHSwiss writer (1845–1924)
• Carl Larssonb. 1853SESwedish painter (1853-1919)
• Karl Rennerb. 1870ATnot in their usual namefirst President of Austria (1870–1950)
• Christian Xb. 1870DKnot in their usual nameKing of Denmark (1912–1947) and Iceland (1918–1944)
• Haakon VII of Norwayb. 1872NOnot in their usual nameKing of Norway from 1905 to 1957 (1872–1957)
• Carl Sandburgb. 1878USAmerican writer and editor (1878–1967)
• Carl Rogersb. 1902USAmerican psychologist (1902–1987)
• Carl David Andersonb. 1905USAmerican physicist
• Oscar Pistoriusb. 1986ZAnot in their usual nameSouth African sprinter and convicted murderer (born 1986)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,146 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Carl?

We estimate roughly 2.0 million people bear Carl (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Carl have the most bearers?

Carl is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled charles.

Where is Carl most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Carl is densest in the Czechia — about 1 in 51 people — even though United Kingdom holds more of our records for it.

How common is Carl compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Carl is the 15th most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Carl a male or female name?

Carl is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Carl mean?

Recorded meaning: probably from ON/ODa Karli, ODa Karl, or OG Karl; more likely from ME carl, ON karl ‘man’; first attested Godric filius Carie, Carli, Godric Carlesone 1066 DB (K)