# Carl (name)

Carl is a North Germanic masculine name meaning "free man". The name originates in Old Norse. 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":
* Carlsen
* Carlson
* Carlsson
* Carlton
* Karlsen
* Karlson
* Karlsson
* Karl (surname)