How rare is the name Karl?

73,518 people in the United States have the first name Karl, about 1 in 4,108. It ranks #700 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

KARL

#700

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
73,518
About
1 in 4,108
This common or more
64.5%
Who bears it

Of the 73,518 people named Karl, 80.7% reported their origin as White, 10.6% as Black and 3.1% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Karl peaked in 1960, when 2,614 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1960
Births that year
2,614
In 2025*
107 ▼96%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 101,751 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Karl by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1960s, when it ranked #327. The largest share of babies named Karl, 35.4%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#568419
1890s#582589
1900s#598792
1910s#4404,715
1920s#5005,836
1930s#4067,753
1940s#3999,740
1950s#34018,798
1960s#32721,404
1970s#45510,872
1980s#5119,622
1990s#8106,132
2000s#1,6112,800
2010s#2,5311,625
2020s#3,357654
Before 19011.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–279.8%
Silent Generation 1928–4513.9%
Baby boom 1946–6435.4%
Generation X 1965–8020.4%
Millennials 1981–9613.1%
Generation Z 1997–124.6%
2013 and later1.7%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Karl is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Karl has been most common in Alaska (1.8×), Wisconsin (1.8×), and Utah (1.7×), and least common in Nevada (0.33×).

94,923 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Karl

#698 Gustavo · 73,690#699 Candace · 73,527#701 Alvin · 72,962#702 Glen · 72,858

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Karl, most common first.

#499 Karla · 113,141#2,302 Karol · 11,198#2,458 Karly · 10,043#2,509 Karli · 9,703#6,445 Karel · 2,488#7,834 Karyl · 1,901#10,543 Karlo · 1,257#27,750 Karle · 328

Also a last name

As a last name, Karl ranks #5,893 of 156,621, with 5,638 people. See Karl as a last name

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