The Karl surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 6,564 people carried this name — #5,308 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 44,800 people counted. That is up 7% from 6,135 in 2000.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 401 people named Karl.
18 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 40 départements, most often Marne.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
166 people named Karl live in Switzerland.
They live in 13 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 127 people named Karl live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Córdoba.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
31 people named Karl is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Karl in American newspapers,
1918.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 676,645 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Karl,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Maximilian Charles, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort 1656–1718 · military personnel -
Frederick Charles, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt 1736–1793 · politician -
Wenzel Karl 1802–1870 · priest -
Karl 1050–1072 · Catholic priest
-
Jan Jiří Karl 1750–1819 · politician
-
Johann Gottlieb Karl 1780– · composer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 8 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Karl.
- Karch 1,506 · U.S. census
- Karcher 3,746 · U.S. census
- Karcz 644 · U.S. census
- Karczewski 1,058 · U.S. census
- Kari 530 · U.S. census
- Karim 5,729 · U.S. census
- Karle 1,768 · U.S. census
- Karm 291 · U.S. census
- Karman 608 · U.S. census
- Karmann 285 · U.S. census
- Karolak 173 · U.S. census
- Karolczak 114 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Karl is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.