Karel

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Karol in US United States, PL Poland, NO Norway and 5 more, Карл in FI Finland, RU Russia, UA Ukraine and 1 more and Karl in SE Sweden, HR Croatia, AT Austria.

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 12 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◐

Karel is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name10K records spelled Karel4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Belgium, Spain, United States

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Karèl, Kârel

• Finnish given name3.0K records spelled Karel3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Estonia, United States, Netherlands

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Kârel

• Danish given name1.1K records spelled Karel7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, United States, Denmark, Iceland

  Languages: Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian

  Also written Karél

69 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●

Karel 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.

• Dutch, German, Czech, and Slovenian; from the personal name Karel (see Charles).

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In Czech, a male given name, equivalent to English Charles

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Forme scandinave de Charles, d’origine germanique, « viril ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In German, männl. Vom., tschechische (Karel) und niederländische (Karel) Form von

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• Libre

  as a name·25,000 nombres de bebé. La mejor guía para escoger el nombre adecuado

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) — 96 years between 1916–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Karl IV.b. 1316CZnot in their usual nameHoly Roman Emperor
• William IV, Prince of Orangeb. 1711NLnot in their usual namehereditary stadtholder of the Netherlands (1711-1751)
• Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraineb. 1712FRnot in their usual nameAustrian general (1712-1780)
• Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschenb. 1771FRnot in their usual nameArchduke of Austria (1771-1847)
• Karel Čapekb. 1890CZCzech writer (1890–1938)
• Prince Charles, Count of Flandersb. 1903BEnot in their usual nameprince, painter (1903-1983)
• Karel Appelb. 1921NLDutch painter, sculptor, and poet (1921-2006)
• Karel Schwarzenbergb. 1937CZCzech politician, minister of foreign affairs and vice prime minister (1937–2023)
• Karel Rodenb. 1962CZCzech actor
• Karel Poborskýb. 1972CZCzech footballer

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 · 545 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Karel?

We estimate roughly 2.1 million people bear Karel (counting its spellings and scripts) across 17 countries in our records.

In which country does Karel have the most bearers?

We estimate about 1.2 million people bear Karel in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled karol.

Where is Karel most common?

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

How common is Karel compared with other names?

In the Czechia, Karel is the 21st most common given name of 28,899 given names recorded there.

Is Karel a male or female name?

Karel 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 Karel mean?

Recorded meaning: Dutch/Central European form of Charles, from Germanic Karl 'free man'.