Karl
- Pronunciation
- [Karl]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Manly
- Origin
- Danish
About the Name Karl
Karl is the Germanic and Scandinavian form of Charles, from the Old High German karl, meaning "free man" or, more broadly, "manly." It is one of the great names of European history, worn by emperors and kings across centuries, and its clipped single syllable lends it a sturdy, no-nonsense dignity that has crossed easily into English-speaking use without losing its continental gravity.
The name claims an extraordinary roster of thinkers. The philosopher and economist Karl Marx (born 1818 in Trier) gave the name worldwide weight, while the Swiss theologian Karl Barth, the Austrian-British philosopher of science Karl Popper, the American bandmaster and march composer Karl Lawrence King, the political strategist Karl Rove, and the Prussian general and military theorist Karl Von Clausewitz together make it a name closely tied to intellectual and public life across many fields.
Karl's recent run in the US Social Security top-1000 was relatively brief: with its best showing in 2000 at rank #564, it was last recorded in 2009 at #967, accumulating 2,611 boys across that span. Recorded variants include Carl, Kale, Karel, Karol, and Karoly, reflecting the name's deep and far-reaching roots across the languages of Europe.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Karl
US Popularity History (2000–2009)
Annual US births named Karl by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2000 with 366 boys named Karl (boy rank #564 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2009, ranked #967 for boys (207 US births). That's 403 places below its 2000 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Karl Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Karl the strongest states are New Jersey, Wisconsin, Indiana.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Jersey | #784 | 24 |
| 2 | Wisconsin | #798 | 16 |
| 3 | Indiana | #849 | 39 |
| 4 | Michigan | #870 | 24 |
| 5 | Washington | #893 | 18 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | #893 | 18 |
| 2 | Michigan | #870 | 24 |
| 3 | Indiana | #849 | 39 |
| 4 | Wisconsin | #798 | 16 |
| 5 | New Jersey | #784 | 24 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Karl in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carl | A Man | Male | English |
| Kale | Strong And Manly | Male | Hawaiian |
| Karel | Strong | Male | Dutch |
| Karlens | Strong And Masculine | Male | French |
| Karli | Covered With Snow | Female | Turkish |
| Karlin | Womanly: Strength. Feminine Of Karl. | Female | German |
| Karol | Feminine Variant Of Charles Meaning Manly | Female | English |
| Karoly | Strong And Masculine | Male | French |
Famous People Named Karl
6 notable figures from history and culture who share the name Karl.
- Karl Barth was an important Swiss theologian.
- Karl Lawrence King was the famous composer and circus band master.
- Karl Marx — Philosopher (1818)
- Karl Popper was Austro- British philosopher who is also considered as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century.
- Karl Rove is an American Republican political strategist and served as Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W.
- Karl Von Clausewitz was a German Prussian soldier and military theorist who authored the work, ‘On War’.
Looking for names like Karl?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Karl to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Karl against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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