Recorded 1880–2025 · United States
Karl was most popular in 1960, when 2,614 American babies were given the name — ranking #299 that year. In 2025 it ranked #3,379, with 107 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 101,751 people named Karl.
The Social Security Administration’s records begin in 1880, and Karl is already there in that first year — so the name is older than the record and these figures cannot date it. It has been recorded in 146 of the 146 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 101,751 American births named Karl between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 66,558 are estimated to be alive today.
107 American babies were named Karl in 2025, ranking #3,379 that year.
Karl is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 110 births a year, against 170 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -35% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Karl is a boy’s name — 0.9% of the 101,751 Americans given it were girls and 99.1% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 66,558 Americans named Karl are alive today — 65% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 59 years old, and half are between 43 and 68.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
A variant of Carl · Germanic · "free man"
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Karl on the interactive charts
About · Privacy · Contact
Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org