Given name & surname
Karl
“a free man”
Karl is used as a given name and a surname. One German interpretation is “a free man.”
Original GermanCarl
Meaning & origin
What it means
One German interpretation is “a free man.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is German.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Karl through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 101,751
- 100,836 boys · 915 girls
- Most popular year
- 1960
- 2,614 babies
- 2025
- 107
- #1,593 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −21%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 107 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,593 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 21.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 2,594 in 1960. In 2025, New Jersey had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (10). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 73,518 as a first name in 2020; 5,638 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.
Karl’s family of names
In German usage, Karl has a diminutive in Kalli. Karl shares a linguistic root with Charles. In German usage, Karl has a conventional equivalent in the Romanian form Carol.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Karl has relatives in 32 languages. Lines run from its German roots to each of them.
Germanwhere Karl comes from · 21 names
Nicknames & forms 39
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Carlvariant · German, Swedish
- Karlyvariant · German
- Karlivariant · German
- Kallidiminutive · German, Icelandic
- Carlivariant · German
- Karolvariant · German, Polish
- Kallevariant · German, Swedish
- Karlevariant · German
Show 31 moreShow fewer
- Carolyvariant · German
- Carolusvariant · German, Latin
- Carlesvariant · German, Catalan
- Carlevariant · German
- Karlchendiminutive · German
- Kehrlivariant · German
- Keerlvariant · German
- Karolyvariant · German
- Karolusvariant · German, Latin
- Karolivariant · German
- Karlsvariant · German
- Carolivariant · German
- Carlsvariant · German
- Karsonvariant
- Karlovariant
- Karlosvariant
- Carlitodiminutive · Spanish
- Karlinvariant
- Karlanvariant
- Karelvariant · Czech, Dutch
- Karlisvariant · Latvian
- Kaarlovariant
- Karltonvariant
- Charlotdiminutive · French
- Karrllikely variant
- Karlllikely variant
- Karlitisvariant
- Karlysvariant
- Kaarlvariant
- Karrelvariant
- Karlensvariant
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 23
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Charlesderivative · English, French
- Carlosdoublet · Portuguese, Spanish
- Karlafeminine form
- CarloItalian
- CarolRomanian
- Carelequivalent
- Charelequivalent
- Karolisequivalent
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- KorlaUpper Sorbian
- Karlesequivalent
- Siarlequivalent
- Kārlisequivalent
- Karlsen“son of” surname · Danish
- Kaaraliborrowing · Greenlandic
- ΚάρολοςGreek
- Sarelderivative · Afrikaans
- Cácborrowing · Vietnamese
- Kaaliborrowing · Greenlandic
- Kaarlecognate · Finnish
- Charlezequivalent
- Károlycognate · Hungarian
- HareMāori
- SéarlesIrish
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Karl
- Karl MarxGerman-born philosopher (1818–1883)
- Karl PopperAustrian-British philosopher of science and social and política e falsificationism and for criticism of Plato, Hegel and Marx as totalitarian opponents of open society (1902-1994)
- Carl BenzGerman automotive and engine designer and manufacturer (1844–1929)
- Karl JaspersGerman-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (1883–1969)
- K. Ferdinand BraunGerman physicist (1850–1918)
- Karl Adolph GjellerupDanish writer (1857–1919)
- Karl WeierstrassGerman mathematician (1815–1897)
- Karl LandsteinerJewish-Austrian biologist, physician and Nobel Prize laureate1868–1943
- Karl LiebknechtGerman socialist, editor, and co-founder of the Spartacus League (1871-1919)
Characters named Karl: Old Shatterhand (fictional character), Karl Ruprect Kroenen (the Hellboy comic book series), Karl Stromberg (fictional James Bond villain), Karl Mayer (fictional character on Desperate Housewives).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Karl, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Jeffery
“a man of peace”
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Fritz
“a peaceful ruler”
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Gary
“one who wields a spear”
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