Carl
The story
Carl is the old Germanic word for a man, a name that softened into Charles in French and English but kept its clean edges across Germany and Scandinavia. Swedish kings have worn it for centuries, and the current bearer, King Carl XVI Gustaf, has reigned since 1973, longer now than any Swedish monarch before him. In America the name reads like an immigrant ledger: German and Scandinavian families carried it over in force, and it ran strongest through the first half of the twentieth century before beginning a long, gentle slide. It has never disappeared, only settled into the quieter ranks where sturdy classics wait out the fashion cycle. Short, solid, and quietly royal, Carl still means exactly what it has always meant: a man, plain and simple.
Carl around the world
One shared root links 24 names across 7 languages.
Shared root: from Germanic karl "man", Latinized as Carolus and spread everywhere by Charlemagne's fame
The constellation
17 more branches of this family
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Carl peaked in the 1910s and the 1960s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
302 people · the #18,957 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 35
Among people named Carl living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Carl
Most people given the name Carl in the United States were born between 1950 and 1989. The Carl you meet today is most often in his 50s or 60s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Carl deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Carl truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Carl fits with your family’s names and surname.
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Names of kings and queens · Names of sports stars · Short names
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