Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Carl?
Births per year, rank history and how many Carls are alive today.
Carl (male), once a common boys' name, is now rarely given to new babies in England and Wales: just 14 in 2025, ranked 1798th. This spelling of the name peaked in 1964, when around 3,400 babies were given the name, the 37th most popular that year. It has declined since 1964; the 2025 figure is roughly 1% of its peak. At least 71,000 babies have been named Carl in England and Wales since 1964. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Carl is one spelling of a name also recorded as Karl; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Carl you are most likely to meet is around 61 years old. Half of all Carls born in England and Wales are between 43 and 62, and there are at least 91,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 26% chance that at least one of them will be called Carl.
How many babies are named Carl each year?
Includes all spellings: Carl, Karl. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Carl spelling rank?
Where does the Karl spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Carl most popular?
Carl peaked in 1964, when around 3,400 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Carl?
At least 91,000 people named Carl in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Carl?
Most living Carls are between 43 and 62; the most common age is about 61.
Is Carl becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1964 peak.