ninan.org

Carl

Boys' name · Mid-century perennial

Living in the US
~236,400 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,132 among boys
Births in 2025
187 508,017 since 1880
Typical age
63 years, median

Carl popularity over time

Carl rank by birth year, 1880–2025Carl ranked #42 in 1880 and #1,132 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #22, in 1894.#100#1,000#1,132best #22 in 189418901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1956: 8,345 births recorded as Carl. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. Carl has spent 100 years inside the national top 100.

The 2025 position is #1,132, on 187 births. Over ten years the count has fallen 59%. It slipped 101 places against the previous year.

Babies named Carl per yearPeaks at 8,345 births in 1956.8,345 in 1956018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Carl?

An estimated 236,400 living Americans are called Carl. That is out of 508,017 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Carl?

Median age among living Carls: 63. The 1950s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Carl a mid-century perennial name.

Your Carl

Ages of living people named CarlHalf of living Carls are older than 63 and half younger.median 63020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Carl is most common

Indiana uses the name 2.2× as often as the country as a whole. Ohio, Missouri and Minnesota follow.

Where Carl is used more than average5 states use the name Carl more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: 1.7× the national rateMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: 2.2× the national rateINOhio: 1.9× the national rateOHPennsylvania: 1.6× the national ratePANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: 1.8× the national rateMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Carl is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Indiana 114 2.2×
Ohio 169 1.9×
Missouri 81 1.8×
Minnesota 67 1.7×
Pennsylvania 137 1.6×

Carl in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Carl ranked #1,798 in 2025 on 14 births. That is 42% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Carl comes from

From Germanic, cognate with English Charles. From German and other north European Carl and Karl. From Latin Carolus.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Carl

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Carl Linnaeus Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist 1707–1778 213
Carl Friedrich Gauss German mathematician and physicist 1777–1855 200
Carl Jung Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist 1875–1961 150
Carl Sagan American astrophysicist, cosmologist and author 1934–1996 143
Carl von Clausewitz German-Prussian general and military theorist 1780–1831 108
Carl XVI Gustaf King of Sweden since 1973 1946 102
Carl Spitteler Swiss writer 1845–1924 95
Carl Reiner American actor 1922–2020 91
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 1,587 in 1911 to 3,243 in 1912 — 2.0 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/carl.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).