Carl (name)

Carl
Pronunciation	Urban East Norwegian: [kɑːl] Swedish: [kɑːɭ]
Gender	Male
Origin
Word/name	Old Norse
Meaning	"Free man"
Other names
Related names	Karl, Charles, Carlo, Carlos, Carolus, Carol

Last updated October 17, 2025

Carl is the English spelling of North Germanic masculine name meaning "free man". The name originates in Old Norse.^[1] It is the first name of many Kings of Sweden including Carl XVI Gustaf. It is a variant of the English Charles, and the Latin Carolus.

List of people named Carl

Royalty and nobility

Carl Bernadotte (1911–2003), Swedish prince
Carl Johan Bernadotte (1916–2012), Swedish prince
Carl XVI Gustaf (born 1946), King of Sweden 1973 to present
Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland (born 1979), Prince of Sweden
Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland (1861–1951), Swedish prince

Most other Swedish and Norwegian royalty so named – see Carl of Sweden – are listed on English Wikipedia as Charles.

Carl, Duke of Württemberg (1936–2022), head of the House of Württemberg from 1975 to 2022

As a given name

Carl Abbott (urban historian) (born 1944), American historian
Carl Abrahams (1911–2005), Jamaican artist
Carl Adams (wrestler) (born 1950), American wrestler, coach and businessman
Carl Albert (1908–2000), American politician and lawyer
Carl Anderson (singer) (1945–2004), American singer and actor
Carl Asercion (1909–1990), American steel guitar player
Carl Ballantine (1917–2009), American actor
Carl Banks (born 1962), American football player
Carl Barât (born 1978), British musician
Carl Barber (born 1956), Canadian Haskap berry grower
Carl Barks (1901–2000), American cartoonist, author, and painter
Carl Barron (born 1964), Australian comedian
Carl Bengtström (born 2000), Swedish athlete
Carl Benner, American electrical engineer
Carl Berman (born 1985), American football player
Carl Bildt (born 1949), Swedish politician and diplomat
Carl August Björk (1837–1916), Swedish preacher
Carl L. Boeckmann (1867–1923), Norwegian-American artist
Carl Bradford (born 1992), American football player
Carl "Charlie" Brandt (1957–2004), American serial killer
Carl Brashear (1931–2006), U.S. Navy master diver
Carl Braun (basketball) (1927–2010), American basketball player
Carl Brewer (politician) (1957–2020), American politician
Carl Byrum (born 1963), American football player
Carl Caldenius (1887–1961), Swedish geologist
Carl Carlton (born 1953), American singer-songwriter
Carl Clark (1933–2015), American photographer
Carl Cohen (businessman) (1913–1986), American gambling executive and Las Vegas casino manager
Carl Cohen (philosopher) (1931–2023), professor of philosophy at the University of Michigan, philosopher, and animal rights activist
Carl Colpaert, American film director
Carl Crawford (born 1981), American baseball player
Carl Czerny (1791–1857), Austrian pianist
Carl Davis (American football) (born 1992), American football player
Carl Decaluwé (born 1960), Belgian politician
Carl Dobkins Jr. (1941–2020), American singer and songwriter
Carl Douglas (born 1942), Jamaican musician who wrote the disco song "Kung Fu Fighting"
Carl E. Douglas (born 1955), American lawyer and member of the defense team during O.J. Simpson's murder trial
Carl Earn (1921–2007), American tennis player
Carl Edwards (born 1979), American NASCAR driver
Carl Edwards Jr. (born 1991), American baseball player
Carl Eller (born 1942), American football player
Carl Erskine (1926–2024), American baseball pitcher
Carl Etelman (1900–1963), American football back and coach
Carl G. Fisher (1874–1939), American entrepreneur
Carl Fodor (born 1963), American football player
Carl Fogarty (born 1965), English motorcycle racer
Carl Frampton (born 1987), Northern Irish boxer
Carl Froch (born 1977), British boxer
Carl Garrigus (1931–1975), American football player
Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855), German mathematician, astronomer, geodesist, and physicist
Carl Giammerese (born 1947), guitar player for American pop group The Buckinghams
Carl Granderson (born 1996), American football player
Carl Grubert (1911–1979), American cartoonist
Carl Gutierrez (born 1941), American politician
Carl Gunnarsson (born 1986), Swedish ice hockey player
Carl August Hagberg (1810–1864), Swedish linguist
Carl Hubbell (1903–1988), American baseball player
Carl Hunter (born 1965), bassist in The Farm
Carl Icahn (born 1936), American businessman
Carl von In der Maur (1852–1913), Austrian aristocrat and Liechtenstein government official
Carl Jenkinson (born 1992), English footballer
Carl Johan Ståhlberg (1865–1952), Finnish jurist and the First President of the Republic of Finland
Carl Jung (1875–1961), Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist, founder of analytical psychology
Carl Kaiser (1927–2010), Canadian ice hockey player
Carl Karcher (1917–2008), American businessman, founder of the Carl's Jr. fast food restaurant chain
Carl Kasell (1934–2018), American radio personality
Carl Kline (psychiatrist) (1915–2005), Canadian psychiatrist and researcher
Carl Laemmle (1867–1939), founder of Universal Pictures
Carl Laemmle Jr. (1908–1979), producer and businessman
Carl Landry (born 1983), American basketball player
Carl Lawson (American football) (born 1994), American football player
Carl Lewis (born 1961), American track and field athlete
Carl Limberger (born 1964), Australian tennis player
Carl Lindner Jr. (1919–2011), American businessman
Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), Swedish biologist and physician
Carl J. Luksic (1921–2009), American flying ace during World War II
Carl Lumbly (born 1951), American actor
Carl Lutz (1895–1975), Swiss vice-consul to Hungary during WWII, credited with saving over 62,000 Jews
Carl Mann (1942–2020), American rockabilly singer
Carl Menger (1840–1921), Austrian economist
Carl Nickolas (born 2001), American taekwondo practitioner
Carl Nicks (American football) (born 1985), American football player
Carl Oliver (born 1969), Bahamian sprinter and Olympic medallist
Carl Ona-Embo (born 1989), Congolese basketball player
Carl Orff (1895–1982) German composer
Charles "Carl" Panzram (1891–1930), American serial killer
Carl Anthony Payne II (born 1969), American actor
Carl Perkins (1932–1998), American singer-songwriter
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788), German composer and musician
Carl Posy, Israeli philosopher
Carl Pursell (1932–2009), American politician
Carl Reiner (1922–2020), American actor, comedian, and director
Carl Glennis Roberts (1886–1950), American surgeon, civil rights activist
Carl Robie (1945–2011), American swimmer
Carl Robinson (born 1976), Welsh footballer
Carl Rogers (1902–1987), American psychologist and psychotherapist
Carl Hancock Rux, American poet, playwright, writer, singer
Carl Sagan (1934–1996), American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist
Carl Sandburg (1878–1967), American poet, writer, editor
Carl Sargeant (1968–2017), Welsh politician
Carl Schueler (born 1956), American race walker
Carl L. Sitter (1922–2000), U.S. Marine Corps officer
Carl Smith (American football) (born 1948), American football coach
Carl Smith (musician) (1927–2010), American country music singer
Carl Söderberg (born 1985), Swedish ice hockey player
Carl Starfelt (born 1995), Swedish footballer
Carl Stockdale (1874–1953), American actor
Carl Heinrich Stratz (1858–1924), German-Russian gynecologist
Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer (1927–1959), American actor and singer, best known as "Alfalfa" from the Our Gang (Little Rascals) comedy shorts
Carl Olof Tallgren (1927–2024), Finnish politician and businessman
Carl Thomas (singer) (born 1972), American R&B singer
Carl Valeri (born 1984), Australian association football player
Carl Van Doren (1885–1950), American critic
Carl Vinson (1883–1981), American politician
Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826), German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist
Carl E. Walz (born 1955), American astronaut
Carl Weathers (1948–2024), American actor and football player
Carl "Charles" Webb, formerly unidentified man known as "Somerton Man"
Carl Wieland (born 1950), Australian creationist
Carl Wilson (1946–1998), American musician and lead guitar player for The Beach Boys
Carl Wittrock (born 1966), Dutch composer and conductor
Carl Voss-Schrader (1880–1955), Finnish colonel, business director, lawyer and interior minister
Carl Yastrzemski (born 1939), American baseball player
Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman

As a family name

Barry Carl (born 1950), American voice actor
Christian Thomsen Carl (1676–1713), Danish navy officer. Middle name also given as Thomasen, Thomesen, or Thomasen.
Fred Carl (politician), American politician
Howie Carl (1938–2005), American basketball player
Jann Carl (born 1960), American television host
Max Carl (born 1950), American songwriter
Renée Carl (1875–1954), French actress
Steve Carl (born 1984), American mixed martial artist

As a stage name

Carl Carl, stage name of Karl Andreas Bernbrunn (1787–1854), Polish-born actor and theatre director
Margarethe Carl, stage name of Margarethe Bernbrunn (1788–1861), German soprano and actress
Carl Wayne, stage name of Colin David Tooley (1943–2004), British singer and musician best known as a member of the Move

Fictional characters

Carl, a character from the Supercell game Brawl Stars
Carl, a character from Carl the Collector
Carl, a character from Family Guy
Carl, a character in the web series Llamas with Hats
Carl, a character from Disney's 2007 film Meet the Robinsons
Carl, a character from Waltzes from Vienna
Carl Alphonse, a character from the 1995 film Billy Madison
Carl Bentley, a character from the 1995 film Jumanji
Carl Bruner, in Ghost
Carl Brutananadilewski, a character from Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Carl Carlson, a character from The Simpsons
Carl Casagrande, a character from The Casagrandes
Carl Chryniszzswics, a character from Johnny Bravo
Carl Clover, a playable character in the Blazblue fighting game series
Carl Conrad Coreander, a character in The Neverending Story
Carl "Crusher" Creel alter ego of supervillain Absorbing Man
Carl Denham, a character from the 1933 film King Kong and its 2005 remake
Carl Elias, a recurring antagonist from the science fiction drama Person of Interest
Carl Fredricksen, a character from Disney-Pixar's 2009 film Up
Carl Gallagher, a character in the TV series Shameless
Carl Gould, a minor character in the Arthur television show
Carl Grimes, a notoriously elusive character from the comic/TV series The Walking Dead
Carl Hamilton, a Swedish secret agent of novels by Jan Guillou
Carl Hanratty, FBI agent in the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can
Carl Johnson, a character in the Grand Theft Auto video game series
Carl Kolchak, a character from Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Carl Rader, a character from the 1940 film Santa Fe Trail
Carl Saxe, a character from the 1947 film Unconquered
Carl Spackler, a character from the 1980 film Caddyshack
Carl Stephans, a character from 711 Ocean Drive
Carl the Grim Rabbit, a character from Looney Tunes
Carl Wheezer, a character from The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius
Carl Winslow, a character from the TV series Family Matters

Derived surnames

There are several derivations of the surname Carl, most of them originating as "son of Carl":

References

↑ Peterson, Lena (2007). Nordiskt runnamnslexikon (PDF) (in Swedish). Institutet för språk och folkminnen. p. 146. ISBN 9789172290402.

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[1] Peterson, Lena (2007). Nordiskt runnamnslexikon (PDF) (in Swedish). Institutet för språk och folkminnen. p. 146. ISBN 9789172290402.

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