Given name & surname
Carnell
“the defender of the castle”
Carnell is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “the defender of the castle.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “the defender of the castle.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1897. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Carnell through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5,164
- 4,618 boys · 546 girls
- Most popular year
- 1955
- 102 babies
- 2025
- 10
- #7,767 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −51%
- Cooling
Boys, girls and both
The balance of boys and girls given this name has shifted over time. Recent births are 100% boys.
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 10 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 7,767 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 50.5% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 92 in 1958. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,588 as a first name in 2020; 2,427 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Carnell’s family of names
Carnell has a related form in Carnel. Carnell has a related form in Carn. Carnell has a related form in Carne.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Carnell
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Carnell, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Stanford
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