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Carl is a North Germanic male 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 popular in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, and was largely popularized in the United States by Scandinavian and Italian (shortened from "Carlo") descendants. Karl is a Germanic spelling which is very popular in Austria, Estonia, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, and was also popularized by German-speaking descendants in the United States. Other variants include the Anglo-Saxon-Frankish variant Charles, popular in Australia, Philippines, Canada, France, New Zealand, the UK and the United States, although both Karl and Carl are also widespread names in most English speaking countries; Carlo, very popular in Italy and southern Switzerland; Carlos, popular in Spain, Portugal and Latin America; and Karol, a variant in Poland and Slovakia.
Royalty and nobility
- Carl Bernadotte, Swedish prince
- Carl Johan Bernadotte, Swedish prince
- Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, King of Sweden 1973 to present
- Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland, Prince of Sweden
- Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland, 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 family name
- Christian Thomsen Carl (1676–1713), Danish navy officer. Middle name also given as Thomasen, Thomesen, or Thomasen.
- Howie Carl, American basketball player
- Max Carl, American songwriter
As a given name
- Carl Anderson (singer) (1945–2004), American singer and actor
- Carl Asercion (1909–1990), American steel guitar player
- Carl Ballantine (1917–2009), American actor
- Carl Barât, British musician
- Carl Barber (born 1956), Canadian Haskap berry grower
- Carl Barks, American cartoonist, author, and painter
- Carl Benner, American electrical engineer
- Carl Bildt, Swedish politician and diplomat
- Carl L. Boeckmann, Norwegian-Ameican artist
- Carl Bradford (born 1992), American football player
- Carl "Charlie" Brandt, American serial killer
- Carl Brashear, U.S. Navy master diver
- Carl Byrum, American football player
- Carl Caldenius, Swedish geologist
- Carl Carlton, 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, American baseball player
- Carl Czerny, Austrian pianist
- Carl Decaluwé (born 1960), Belgian politician
- Carl Dobkins Jr. (1941–2020), American singer and songwriter
- Carl Douglas, Jamaican musician who wrote the disco song "Kung Fu Fighting"
- Carl E. Douglas, American lawyer and member of the defense team during O.J. Simpson's murder trial
- Carl Earn (1921–2007), American tennis player
- Carl Edwards, American NASCAR driver
- Carl Edwards Jr., American baseball player
- Carl Eller, American football player
- Carl Erskine (1926–2024), American baseball pitcher
- Carl Etelman (1900–1963), American football back and coach
- Carl Fodor, American football player
- Carl Fogarty, English motorcycle racer
- Carl Froch, British boxer
- Carl Garrigus, American football player
- Carl Friedrich Gauss, 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, American cartoonist
- Carl Gunnarsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- Carl August Hagberg, Swedish linguist
- Carl Hubbell, American baseball player
- Carl Hunter, bassist in The Farm
- Carl Icahn, American businessman
- Carl von In der Maur (1852–1913), Austrian aristocrat and Liechtenstein government official
- Carl Jenkinson, football (soccer) player
- 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 Lawson (American football) (born 1994), American football player
- Carl Lewis, American track and field athlete
- Carl Linnaeus, Swedish biologist and physician
- Carl J. Luksic (1921–2009), American flying ace during World War II
- 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, Austrian economist
- 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, American serial killer
- Carl Perkins (1932–1998), American singer-songwriter
- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
- Carl Posy, Israeli philosopher
- Carl Pursell, American politician
- Carl Reiner (1922–2020), American actor, comedian, and director
- Carl Glennis Roberts (1886–1950), American surgeon, civil rights activist
- Carl Rogers, American psychologist and psychotherapist
- Carl Hancock Rux, American poet, playwright, writer, singer
- Carl Sagan, American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist
- Carl Sandburg, American poet, writer, editor
- Carl Sargeant (1968–2017), Welsh politician
- Carl Schueler, American race walker
- Carl L. Sitter, U.S. Marine Corps officer
- Carl Smith (musician) (1927–2010), American country music singer
- Carl Söderberg, Swedish ice hockey player
- Carl Stockdale, American actor
- Carl Heinrich Stratz, German-Russian gynecologist
- Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, American actor and singer, best known as "Alfalfa" from the Our Gang (Little Rascals) comedy shorts
- Carl Olof Tallgren, Finnish politician and businessman
- Carl Thomas (singer), American R&B singer
- Carl Valeri, Australian association football player
- Carl Van Doren, American critic
- Carl Maria von Weber
- 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, 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, German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman
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.
- Carl, a llama in the web series Llamas with Hats
- Carl, a character from Disney's Meet the Robinsons
- Carl, a character from the 1947 film Unconquered
- Carl, a main character from Carl The Collector
- Carl, a character from Waltzes from Vienna
- Carl, a character from the Supercell game Brawl Stars
- Carl, a character from Family Guy
- "Carl", a nickname for the Series 800 Model 101 Terminator in Terminator: Dark Fate
- Carl Bentley, a character from the 1995 film Jumanji
- 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 Crayon, in the Wee Sing 1988 video: Grandpa's Magical Toys
- 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 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 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 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
- Carl, also known as Mr. Cupcake, a minor character from Five Nights at Freddy's
There are several derivations of the surname Carl, most of them originating as "son of Carl":
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