Carl Boy
How popular is Carl?
#1,132 boy name in 2025
187 baby boys were named Carl in the US in 2025, making it the 1132nd most popular boy name.
Carl popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #1,132 for boys (▼ 101 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 187 boys |
| 10-year trend | Falling fast (-59% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #599 in 2015, #812 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1956 (8,313 boys) |
| Highest rank | #22 in 1894 (3 years at that rank) |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 100% boys, 0% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 0.1% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Carl counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Carl family of names ranked #788 for boys in 2025 (#757 the year before), with 294 babies in all.
| Spelling | Boys in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Carl | 187 | 64% |
| Karl | 107 | 36% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Carl is most popular
Babies named Carl per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
Carl by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 5,227 | #27 |
| 1890s | 8,047 | #22 |
| 1900s | 9,865 | #23 |
| 1910s | 48,454 | #22 |
| 1920s | 69,851 | #26 |
| 1930s | 66,759 | #26 |
| 1940s | 72,739 | #29 |
| 1950s | 78,752 | #43 |
| 1960s | 60,787 | #53 |
| 1970s | 31,370 | #66 |
| 1980s | 25,472 | #103 |
| 1990s | 14,693 | #145 |
| 2000s | 7,198 | #304 |
| 2010s | 4,225 | #536 |
| 2020s | 1,388 | #812 |
Boy names about as popular as Carl
Questions
- Is Carl a boy or girl name?
- Carl is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 100% of babies named Carl were boys.
- How popular is the name Carl?
- 187 baby boys were named Carl in the US in 2025, making it the 1132nd most popular boy name.
- When was Carl most popular?
- Carl peaked in 1956, when 8,313 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #22, held for 3 years starting in 1894.
- How many people are named Carl?
- 508,017 babies have been named Carl in the US since 1880. We estimate about 232,395 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 64.
- Where is Carl most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Carl was most common in Ohio, at 0.3 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.