Carl is a distinctive choice, ranked #2264 in 2024. Your child is likely to be the only Carl in their class.
💎
UK Rank 2024
#2264
US Rank #961
About the Name Carl
Carl has seen a notable decline in recent years, dropping 1153 places in five years. It was most popular in 1996 at #116 — parents choosing it today are making a deliberately counter-trend decision. The name has been a consistent presence in UK records since 1996.
Carl is distinctive enough that your child will likely be the only one in both their class and their school — standing out on every register.
In the US it ranks even higher at #961, where it enjoys a particularly strong following.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Carl
Unlikely. With around 10 UK babies named Carl per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Carl in his class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Carl has been declining in UK popularity, dropping 1153 places in the last five years. Its peak was #116 in 1996. Choosing it now means he is likely to be among the last of his generation with this name.
Carl is more popular in the US (#961) than in the UK (#2264). Names with strong rankings in both countries tend to have broad cross-cultural appeal, working well for international families or those with ties to both nations.
Notable people named Carl include: Carl Palmer — Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer is an English drummer.; Carl XVI Gustaf — Carl XVI Gustaf is King of Sweden, reigning since 1973.; Carl Linnaeus — Carl Linnaeus, also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern....
Carl does not appear in the US top 1,000 baby names, making it a distinctively British choice — your child is unlikely to encounter American Carls in the wild.
10
UK babies named Carl (2024)
< 1
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
~0.0
In a school of 600
↓ 1153 places
Rank change (last 5 years)
🏫 Who else is in the room?
In a typical UK class of 28, highlighted children share the name Carl
Likely around 1 other Carl in the class
UK Popularity (1996–2024)
Rank and birth count · ONS official data
US Popularity (2020–2023)
Rank · SSA official data
✨ Similar names to Carl
Names with a similar style — each with their own classroom story
Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer is an English drummer. He was a founding member of the supergroups Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Asia, a touring drummer for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and a founding member of Atomic Rooster.
Carl Schmitt was a German jurist and political theorist. An authoritarian conservative theorist, he was noted as a critic of parliamentary democracy, liberalism, and cosmopolitanism.
Carl Linnaeus, also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy".
Karl Andreas Bernbrunn, known by the stage name Carl Carl, was a Kraków-born actor and theatre director. Bernbrunn was born illegitimately on7 November 1787 to Maria Anna Alxinger and Karl Andrä Bernbrunn.
Carl August Sandburg was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln.
Carl Heinrich Maria Orff was a German composer and music educator, who composed the cantata Carmina Burana. The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education.
Carl Johann Grillmair was a Canadian astronomer and astrophysicist. He was a research scientist at the California Institute of Technology since 1997, where he studied exoplanets, galactic structure, and dark matter.
Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz ( KLOW-zə-vits; German: [ˈkaʁl fɔn ˈklaʊzəvɪts] ; born Carl Philipp Gottlieb Clauswitz; 1 July 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian army officer and military theorist who stressed the "moral" (in modern terms meaning psychological) and political aspects of waging war. His most notable work, Vom Kriege (On War), though unfinished at his death, is considered a seminal treatise on military strategy and science.
Carl Nebel was a German engineer, architect and draughtsman, best known for his detailed paintings and lithographic prints made from them of the Mexican landscape and people during the battles of the Mexican–American War.