Karl
Karl is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 99 births. Its best rank was 135th, in 1960, 1964.
- Rank in 2024
- —outside the top 1,000
- Births in 2024
- 990.01% of boys
- Peak year
- 19602,594 births
- Best rank
- #135first in 1960
- Since 1880
- 100,733people given the name
The story in the numbers
100,733 boys have been named Karl in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1960, with 2,594 births — 0.12% of all boys recorded that year.
The name has all but left use: 99 births in 2024, against 2,594 at the peak.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1960, and the 1960s alone account for 21%. It has spent 129 of 145 years in the top 1,000.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Karl | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 419 | |
| 1890s | 589 | |
| 1900s | 792 | |
| 1910s | 4,694 | |
| 1920s | 5,801 | |
| 1930s | 7,723 | |
| 1940s | 9,724 | |
| 1950s | 18,731 | |
| 1960s | 21,183 | |
| 1970s | 10,628 | |
| 1980s | 9,370 | |
| 1990s | 6,110 | |
| 2000s | 2,799 | |
| 2010s | 1,623 | |
| 2020s | 547 |
In 1960, its biggest year
Karl was the 135th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1960 were David, Michael, James, John and Robert. See all of 1960.
Names that rose and fell with Karl
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Curtispeak 1962
- Nealpeak 1959
- Paulpeak 1957
- Peterpeak 1957
- Kirbypeak 1957
- Alphonsopeak 1962
- Jaypeak 1960
- Philippeak 1953
Other spellings in the data
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.