Carl

German variation of Charles

"free man"

Carl Origin and Meaning

The name Carl is a boy's name of German origin meaning "free man".

This no-nonsense German variation of Charles is strong and sturdy. A top choice throughout the 20th century, Carl is now verging on falling off the charts.

Carl Rank in US Top 1000

# 961 in the US

Carl Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 820 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Carl

• 961 US 2023
• 820 Nameberry 2025
• 9 Unique 2022
• 911 Future 2028
• 902 England 2018
• 24 Germany 2020
• 70 Sweden 2022
• 1 Denmark 2023

20 Names Similar to Carl

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Carl.

• Ronald
• Douglas
• Bruce
• Raymond
• Dennis
• Martin
• Tom
• Richard
• Larry
• Gregory
• Jerry
• Paul
• Stephen
• Phillip
• Karl
• Timothy
• Allen
• Tony
• Jeffrey
• Felipe

Famous People Named Carl

• Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis American track and field athlete
• Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus) King of Sweden
• Carl Linnaeus Swedish biologist and father of taxonomy
• Carl Linnaeus the Younger Swedish biologist
• Carl Edward Sagan American astronomer
• Carl Friedrich Gauss German mathematician and physicist
• Carl David Tolm Runge German mathematician and physicist
• Carl Gustav Jung Swiss psychiatrist and associate of Sigmund Freud
• Carl Dean Wilson musician of American band The Beach Boys, brother of Brian Wilson
• Carl Philipp Gottfried "Gottlieb" von Clausewit German general and military theorist
• Carl Christian Maria Anna Rudolph Anton Marcus d'Aviano Archduke of Austria
• Carl Ferdinand Cori Czech biochemist and Nobel Prize winner
• Carl Prince of Denmark and Iceland (born Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel), aka Haakon VII, King of Norway
• (Oscar) Carl Wilhelm Prince of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Vastergotland
• Carl Soderberg Swedish NHL Hockey player
• Carl Anthony Williams Australian gang lord
• Carl Milles Swedish sculptor
• Carl Harvey "C.H." Greenblatt American animator
• Oscar Carl Olof Prince of Sweden

The name Carl in Pop Culture

• Carl Grimes character on TV's "The Walking Dead"
• Carl Denham character in "King Kong" series
• Carl Francis Gallagher character on TV's "Shameless"
• Carl Fredricksen character in Pixar's "Up"
• Carl Foutley character on animated series "As Told By Ginger"
• Carlton "Carl" Carlson character on TV's "The Simpsons"
• Carl Brutananadilewski character on animated series "Aqua Teen Hunger Force"
• Carl Crashman main character on Canadian animated series "Carl²"
• Carl Howell character on TV's "Glee"
• Carl Thomas King character on British soap "Emmerdale"
• Carl White character on British soap "EastEnders"
• Carl Abbot character in "Sims" series
• Carl Wheezer Jimmy's best friend on animated series "Jimmy Neutron"
• Carl Hauser character in the film "Total Recall"
• Carl Sweetchuck character in the "Police Academy" Film series
• Carl Proctor character in the "Police Academy" Film series
• Carl Otis Winslow character in the ABC TGIF sitcom "Family Matters"

International Variations of the name Carl

• Carlino Italian
• Carolu Dutch
• Carolo Italian
• Karel Czech
• Karolek Polish
• Kalman German
• Karol Czech
• Carlos Spanish
• Karlin Russian
• Cathal Irish
• Carel Dutch
• Kari Hungarian
• Karlik Czech
• Carolos Greek
• Károly Hungarian
• Carlito Spanish
• Karlen Russian
• Kalle Finnish
• Carlo Spanish
• Karcsi Hungarian
• Kale Hawaiian
• Carlus Irish
• Karl Scandinavian