Karl
Karl was given to 107 boys in 2025, #1,593 among boys’ names; 101,751 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 64,800 Americans named Karl and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (64% of everyone recorded); the median is 58 years old and half are between 43 and 67.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Karl by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Karl mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Karl is “a male given name from the Germanic languages, equivalent to English Charles.”
From German and North Germanic (Scandinavian) Karl, from Germanic. Doublet of Charles.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Karl?
#1,593 among boys’ names, 2025
Karl fell from #1,075 in 2015 to #1,593 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 96.0 to 62.6 per million.
2,614 babies in 1960, the peak
Karl peaked in 1960, when 2,614 babies were given it (2,594 boys, #135 among boys’ names). The 107 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 107 | #1,593 | 0.06 |
| 2024 | 99 | #1,693 | 0.06 |
| 2023 | 101 | #1,688 | 0.06 |
| 2022 | 128 | #1,430 | 0.07 |
| 2021 | 115 | #1,535 | 0.07 |
| 2020 | 104 | #1,570 | 0.06 |
| 2019 | 145 | #1,285 | 0.08 |
| 2018 | 143 | #1,288 | 0.08 |
| 2017 | 141 | #1,289 | 0.08 |
| 2016 | 167 | #1,152 | 0.09 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 184 | #1,075 | 0.10 |
| 2014 | 165 | #1,148 | 0.09 |
| 2013 | 169 | #1,099 | 0.09 |
| 2012 | 161 | #1,139 | 0.08 |
| 2011 | 173 | #1,079 | 0.09 |
| 2010 | 177 | #1,089 | 0.09 |
| 2009 | 207 | #967 | 0.10 |
| 2008 | 188 | #1,020 | 0.09 |
| 2007 | 242 | #860 | 0.12 |
| 2006 | 270 | #771 | 0.13 |
| 2005 | 265 | #752 | 0.13 |
| 2004 | 281 | #695 | 0.14 |
| 2003 | 300 | #660 | 0.15 |
| 2002 | 330 | #609 | 0.17 |
| 2001 | 351 | #580 | 0.18 |
| 2000 | 366 | #564 | 0.19 |
| 1999 | 390 | #534 | 0.20 |
| 1998 | 455 | #482 | 0.24 |
| 1997 | 483 | #459 | 0.26 |
| 1996 | 504 | #447 | 0.27 |
| 1995 | 598 | #392 | 0.31 |
| 1994 | 612 | #382 | 0.32 |
| 1993 | 662 | #357 | 0.34 |
| 1992 | 738 | #336 | 0.37 |
| 1991 | 811 | #317 | 0.40 |
| 1990 | 858 | #295 | 0.42 |
| 1989 | 908 | #273 | 0.45 |
| 1988 | 843 | #274 | 0.44 |
| 1987 | 853 | #260 | 0.46 |
| 1986 | 904 | #248 | 0.49 |
| 1985 | 961 | #242 | 0.52 |
| 1984 | 896 | #244 | 0.50 |
| 1983 | 911 | #242 | 0.51 |
| 1982 | 973 | #240 | 0.54 |
| 1981 | 1,062 | #226 | 0.59 |
| 1980 | 1,060 | #225 | 0.59 |
| 1979 | 956 | #234 | 0.56 |
| 1978 | 900 | #232 | 0.55 |
| 1977 | 941 | #230 | 0.57 |
| 1976 | 868 | #234 | 0.55 |
| 1975 | 904 | #226 | 0.58 |
| 1974 | 1,004 | #214 | 0.64 |
| 1973 | 985 | #220 | 0.63 |
| 1972 | 1,167 | #199 | 0.72 |
| 1971 | 1,323 | #191 | 0.75 |
| 1970 | 1,575 | #177 | 0.85 |
| 1969 | 1,565 | #180 | 0.88 |
| 1968 | 1,598 | #168 | 0.92 |
| 1967 | 1,695 | #159 | 1.0 |
| 1966 | 1,792 | #158 | 1.0 |
| 1965 | 2,019 | #154 | 1.1 |
| 1964 | 2,403 | #135 | 1.2 |
| 1963 | 2,513 | #136 | 1.2 |
| 1962 | 2,457 | #142 | 1.2 |
| 1961 | 2,543 | #138 | 1.2 |
| 1960 | 2,594 | #135 | 1.2 |
| 1959 | 2,354 | #148 | 1.1 |
| 1958 | 2,348 | #146 | 1.1 |
| 1957 | 2,338 | #146 | 1.1 |
| 1956 | 2,060 | #150 | 1.0 |
| 1955 | 1,935 | #149 | 0.94 |
| 1954 | 1,736 | #166 | 0.85 |
| 1953 | 1,653 | #163 | 0.84 |
| 1952 | 1,564 | #170 | 0.80 |
| 1951 | 1,439 | #175 | 0.76 |
| 1950 | 1,304 | #172 | 0.73 |
| 1949 | 1,321 | #172 | 0.74 |
| 1948 | 1,187 | #179 | 0.68 |
| 1947 | 1,119 | #184 | 0.61 |
| 1946 | 998 | #185 | 0.61 |
| 1945 | 758 | #197 | 0.56 |
| 1944 | 837 | #186 | 0.61 |
| 1943 | 907 | #182 | 0.64 |
| 1942 | 878 | #179 | 0.64 |
| 1941 | 864 | #178 | 0.70 |
| 1940 | 855 | #174 | 0.74 |
| 1939 | 866 | #171 | 0.78 |
| 1938 | 985 | #162 | 0.89 |
| 1937 | 907 | #162 | 0.85 |
| 1936 | 830 | #166 | 0.80 |
| 1935 | 812 | #171 | 0.78 |
| 1934 | 689 | #186 | 0.67 |
| 1933 | 681 | #181 | 0.69 |
| 1932 | 670 | #193 | 0.64 |
| 1931 | 635 | #204 | 0.61 |
| 1930 | 648 | #206 | 0.59 |
| 1929 | 637 | #207 | 0.59 |
| 1928 | 599 | #219 | 0.54 |
| 1927 | 630 | #211 | 0.56 |
| 1926 | 595 | #226 | 0.54 |
| 1925 | 589 | #225 | 0.53 |
| 1924 | 584 | #233 | 0.52 |
| 1923 | 565 | #235 | 0.52 |
| 1922 | 527 | #246 | 0.48 |
| 1921 | 573 | #233 | 0.52 |
| 1920 | 502 | #245 | 0.47 |
| 1919 | 515 | #234 | 0.53 |
| 1918 | 600 | #209 | 0.59 |
| 1917 | 673 | #181 | 0.73 |
| 1916 | 685 | #176 | 0.77 |
| 1915 | 715 | #160 | 0.84 |
| 1914 | 548 | #161 | 0.84 |
| 1913 | 387 | #177 | 0.76 |
| 1912 | 323 | #182 | 0.75 |
| 1911 | 156 | #195 | 0.69 |
| 1910 | 92 | #252 | 0.47 |
| 1909 | 102 | #211 | 0.62 |
| 1908 | 97 | #210 | 0.63 |
| 1907 | 89 | #214 | 0.61 |
| 1906 | 108 | #169 | 0.81 |
| 1905 | 65 | #243 | 0.49 |
| 1904 | 67 | #230 | 0.52 |
| 1903 | 70 | #213 | 0.59 |
| 1902 | 65 | #223 | 0.53 |
| 1901 | 54 | #235 | 0.51 |
| 1900 | 75 | #231 | 0.50 |
| 1899 | 49 | #239 | 0.46 |
| 1898 | 53 | #241 | 0.43 |
| 1897 | 57 | #233 | 0.51 |
| 1896 | 60 | #234 | 0.50 |
| 1895 | 67 | #211 | 0.57 |
| 1894 | 73 | #201 | 0.63 |
| 1893 | 63 | #216 | 0.56 |
| 1892 | 59 | #231 | 0.48 |
| 1891 | 61 | #203 | 0.60 |
| 1890 | 47 | #248 | 0.42 |
| 1889 | 50 | #229 | 0.45 |
| 1888 | 71 | #207 | 0.59 |
| 1887 | 49 | #224 | 0.48 |
| 1886 | 48 | #249 | 0.43 |
| 1885 | 44 | #249 | 0.41 |
| 1884 | 34 | #298 | 0.30 |
| 1883 | 33 | #287 | 0.32 |
| 1882 | 40 | #272 | 0.35 |
| 1881 | 29 | #299 | 0.29 |
| 1880 | 21 | #377 | 0.19 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Karl a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Karl has been given almost only to boys: 915 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Karl: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Karl, and how old are they?
64,800 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 64% of the 101,751 Americans ever recorded as Karl. The median Karl alive today is 58 years old; half are between 43 and 67.
The 2020 Census counted 73,518 people named Karl (216 women and girls, 73,302 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 70,525 born in the U.S. The Census count is 4% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 2,920 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 24,800 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 18,100 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 12,600 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 4,550 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,760 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Karl born?
The states with the most babies named Karl are New York, California and Pennsylvania, with 26% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 9,168 | #1,358 | 1.1× |
| California | 7,636 | #2,636 | 0.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 7,600 | #1,049 | 1.3× |
| Illinois | 6,070 | #1,206 | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 5,952 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Michigan | 5,763 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Texas | 4,217 | #2,428 | 0.7× |
| New Jersey | 3,639 | #676 | 1.2× |
| Wisconsin | 3,516 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Massachusetts | 2,768 | not ranked | 0.9× |
Where Karl is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Karl is most over-represented in Utah: since 1910 it was given 1.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Karl with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 610,103 babies since 1880, Karl is the second most given (17% of them). In 2025 it was given to 107 of their 294 babies (36%), again the second most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Karl
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Karl and names like it
- Compare Karl and CarlBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sKarl peaked in 1960.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Karl since 1910.
- Germanic namesWiktionary’s origin for Karl: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1960The year the most babies were named Karl.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Karl alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with KMost given first.