Carl (name) explained
Carl is a 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
Most other Swedish and Norwegian royalty so named – see Carl of Sweden – are listed on English Wikipedia as Charles.
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 Family Guy
- Carl, a raccoon in Carl The Collector
- 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 characer from the 1995 film Billy Madison
- 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 "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":
See also
Notes and References
- Book: Peterson, Lena . Nordiskt runnamnslexikon . 2007 . Institutet för språk och folkminnen . 9789172290402 . 146 . PDF . Swedish.
