Carl
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, variant of Karl.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Carl (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Carl has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2001. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 409 |
| 1999 | 409 |
| 2000 | 410 |
| 2001 | 416 |
| 2002 | 390 |
| 2003 | 391 |
| 2004 | 369 |
| 2005 | 364 |
| 2006 | 286 |
| 2007 | 297 |
| 2008 | 245 |
| 2009 | 276 |
| 2010 | 208 |
| 2011 | 217 |
| 2012 | 166 |
| 2013 | 184 |
| 2014 | 174 |
| 2015 | 173 |
| 2016 | 181 |
| 2017 | 149 |
| 2018 | 175 |
| 2019 | 144 |
| 2020 | 166 |
| 2021 | 157 |
| 2022 | 132 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 29,905 |
| 2000 | 29,096 |
| 2001 | 28,269 |
| 2002 | 27,547 |
| 2003 | 26,871 |
| 2004 | 26,136 |
| 2005 | 25,679 |
| 2006 | 25,093 |
| 2007 | 25,007 |
| 2008 | 24,962 |
| 2009 | 25,019 |
| 2010 | 24,948 |
| 2011 | 24,933 |
| 2012 | 24,852 |
| 2013 | 24,727 |
| 2014 | 24,676 |
| 2015 | 24,598 |
| 2016 | 24,557 |
| 2017 | 24,511 |
| 2018 | 24,418 |
| 2019 | 24,251 |
| 2020 | 24,070 |
Carl in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Carl.Hi! My name is Carl.
- Carl bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Carl lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Vet du om Carl kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Carl is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Carls mamma är lärare.Carl's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Carls mamma is Carl's mum.
More names
Questions about Carl
How do you pronounce Carl in Swedish?
In IPA, Carl is /kɑːrl/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Carl mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, variant of Karl.
How popular is Carl in Sweden?
132 babies were named Carl in 2022. In 2020, 24,070 people in Sweden had Carl as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2001 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.