ninan.org

Earl

Boys' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~92,900 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#2,230 among boys
Births in 2025
63 291,421 since 1880
Typical age
68 years, median

Earl popularity over time

Earl rank by birth year, 1880–2025Earl ranked #52 in 1880 and #2,230 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #20, in 1894.#100#1,000#2,230best #20 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.

1921 is the peak year for Earl, with 6,797 births. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. It has held a top-100 place in 75 separate years.

The 2025 position is #2,230, on 63 births. Over ten years the count has fallen 51%. It slipped 74 places against the previous year.

Babies named Earl per yearPeaks at 6,797 births in 1921.6,797 in 1921018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Earl?

An estimated 92,900 living Americans are called Earl. SSA has recorded 291,421 births under the name 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 Earl?

Median age among living Earls: 68. The 1950s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Earl a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Earl

Ages of living people named EarlHalf of living Earls are older than 68 and half younger.median 68020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Earl is most common

Ohio uses the name 1.4× as often as the country as a whole.

Where Earl is used more than average1 states use the name Earl 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: not over-representedMNIllinois: 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: not over-representedINOhio: 1.4× the national rateOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: 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 Earl is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Ohio 36 1.4×

Where the name Earl comes from

From earl (“nobleman”).

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

Notable people named Earl

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr. American pharmacologist 1915–1974 50
Earl Warren Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1953 to 1969 1891–1974 44
Earl Holliman American actor 1928–2024 33
Earl Hines American jazz pianist 1903–1983 32
Earl Boykins American basketball player 1976 31
Earl Scruggs American musician 1924–2012 28
Earl Derr Biggers American novelist and playwright 1884–1933 28
Earl Sweatshirt American rapper and record producer 1994 28
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 1,317 in 1911 to 2,539 in 1912 — 1.9 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/earl.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).