Carl (name)

Carl
Pronunciation	Carl
Gender	Male and female
Origin
Word/Name	Old Norse
Meaning	"forehead"
Other names
Related names	many, see text

(For persons with this and similar names, see also Carl, Karl, and Charles).

Carl is a popular given name as well as the name of various places. The most popular male variations are Karl, Charles; the popularity stems from the long lines of historical nobility using these names. There also exist many female variations such as Charlotte and Carla. Carlos and Carla rank as 3rd most popular names in many Spanish-speaking countries.

See Carl, Karl, Charles, Carolus, Karol, Carlos and Carlo for famous people.

Karl (altered in Carl) and the variant form Karli, is an Old Norse name, basically meaning "free man". This word remains in contemporary Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Icelandic. Several Swedish kings have borne the name, among them today's ruler Carl XVI Gustaf.

It can also be the short form of Háriolus, a pet form of Germanic names beginning with Charja-/ Harja- "army".

The English substantive carl "churl" is first mentioned in the 13th century and is probably a loanword of Old Norse or Old Danish. Both words carl and churl (< Old English ċeorl) share the same root, that is to say the Common Germanic *karlaz, but the Old English ċeorl comes from a West Germanic variant form *kerla, related to Middle Low German Kerle, German Kerl "guy" and Dutch kerel "male, guy", kerels "boy".

In Scandinavia, the Big Dipper is called Karlavagnen or Karlsvognen, meaning the wagon of Karl. Through history, this asterism has been named after Charlemagne and King Arthur. It has been speculated that these traditions refer an earlier identity of this asterism as "Odin's Wain".^{[citation needed]}

Given name

Male given names

• Carl (English, Danish, French, Norwegian, Swedish, classic German)
• Carlyon (English)
• Carlo (Italian)
• Carlos (Portuguese, Spanish)
• Carles (Catalan)
• Carlu (Sicilian)
• Carol (Romanian)
• Carolus (Latin)
• Charl (Afrikaans)
• Charles (French, English); Diminutive variants include: Charlie, Chaz, Chuck.
• Charlys (Cornish)
• Gàrral (Sami)
• Kaarle, Kaarlo (Finnish)
• Kaarel (Estonian)
• Kalle (Estonian, Finnish, Swedish)
• Karel (Afrikaans, Czech, Dutch, Slovene)
• Karl (Estonian, Danish, German, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish)
• Карл (Bulgarian, Russian)
• Kārlis (Latvian)
• Karlo (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian); Карло Serbian; კარლო Georgian
• Կարլոս (Karlos) (Armenian)
• Karol (Polish, Slovak)
• Karolis (Lithuanian)
• Karolo (Esperanto)
• Κάρολος (Károlos) (Greek)
• Károly (Hungarian)
• كيرولوس (Kirollos) (Egyptian Arabic)
• Séarlas (Irish); Cathal & Cormac are often thought to be the Irish variants of Charles/Carl/Karl. However, they are equations, and not true forms.
• Siarl (Welsh)
• Teàrlach (Scottish Gaelic) (etymologically unrelated to Carl)
• Karl

Female given names

• Carla (Dutch, English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan); This name dates back to early Italy. Many people have this name.
• Carlijn (Dutch)
• Carlota (Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan)
• Carlotta (Italian)
• Carly (American)
• Carol (disambiguation) (English)
• Carola (disambiguation) (German, Swedish)
• Carole (disambiguation) (English, French, Portuguese)
• Carolina (name) (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish)
• Caroline (given name) (English, French, Swedish, Danish)
• Carolyn (English)
• Charla (English)
• Charlene (given name) (English)
• Charlène (French)
• Charlotta (Swedish)
• Charlotte (disambiguation) (English, French, German, Swedish, Danish)
• Karla (German, Scandinavian, Czech)
• Karole
• Karoliina (Finnish)
• Karolina (Polish, Swedish)
• Karolína (Czech)
• Karoline (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish)

Notable people

• Carl Cebrecus
• Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, the current Swedish monarch
• Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland, Prince of Sweden
• Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland

(other Swedish and Norwegian royalty so named are listed on English Wikipedia as Charles)

• Carl Ballantine (1917-2009), American actor
• Carl Barks
• Carl Crawford
• Carl Barat
• Carl Bildt
• Carl L. Boeckmann
• Carl Brashear, U.S. Navy Master Diver
• Carl Edwards
• Carl Fogarty
• Carl-Peter Forster
• Carl Friedrich Gauss
• Carl Grubert
• Carl August Hagberg, Swedish linguist
• Carl Jenkinson, Football (soccer) player
• Carl Jung
• Carl Karcher
• Carl Kasell, American radio personality
• Carl Lewis
• Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné)
• Carl Orff
• Carl Pursell, American politician
• Carl Reiner, American actor, director, and comedian
• Carl Rogers, American psychologist and psychotherapist
• Carl Sagan
• Carl Sandburg
• Carl Schueler, American race walker
• Carl Maria von Weber
• Carl Weathers
• Carl Wieland
• Carl Wilson
• Carl Yastrzemski
• Carl Zeiss

Fictional

Animated

• Carl Brutananadilewski, a character from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, now titled Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1.
• Carl Carlson, a character from The Simpsons
• Carl Fredricksen, a character from Disney-Pixar's Up (2009 film)
• Carl (Family Guy) Graves, a character on the TV series Family Guy
• Carl "CJ" Johnson, a character in the Grand Theft Auto video game series
• P. Karl "Carl the Intern", Phineas and Ferb character
• Carl/Quentin, a cog in the Conker (series) who is known by both names
• Carl Chryniszzswics, a character in in the TV series Johnny Bravo
• Carl Wheezer, a character in Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

Live-action and literature

• Carl Hamilton (fictional character) (known as Carl G. G. Hamilton), a Swedish secret agent created by Jan Guillou
• Carl Winslow, a character from the TV series Family Matters

Surnames

• Carlsen
• Carlson
• Carlsson
• Carlton
• Karlsen
• Karlson
• Karlsson

Place names

• Carei/ Nagykároly / Grosskarol / Großkarl (Romania)
• Carlsbad, California (United States)
• Carlsbad, New Mexico (United States)
• Carlsbad, Texas (United States)
• Carlton (disambiguation) (England)
• Carolina, Puerto Rico
• Charlotte (United States)
• Charlton (disambiguation) (England)
• Charleville (disambiguation)
• Charleval (France)
• Karlovac (Croatia)
• Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic)
• Karlsbad (Baden) (Germany)
• Karlshamn (Sweden)
• Karlskoga (Sweden)
• Karlskrona (Sweden)
• Karlsruhe (Germany)
• Karlstad (Sweden)
• North Carolina (United States)
• South Carolina (United States)
• São Carlos (Brazil)

Buildings/monuments/institutions

• Charles University in Prague
• Teatro Nacional de São Carlos (São Carlos National Theatre, Lisbon)
• Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (1676, Guatemala)

References

NF Observatory web site.