Carl (name)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Carl is a name of Germanic origin. It is a popular given name as well as the name of various places. The most popular male variations are Karl, Charles, and Carlos; 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 and Carlos for famous people.

1 Etymology
2 Male given names
3 Female given names
4 Surnames
5 Place names

[edit] Etymology

Look up Carl, carl in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The English use of Carl derives from the Anglo-Saxon word churl which means "a common person" or "a free man", which is also the original meaning of "karl" in Old Norse.

In Norse mythology, Karl was the name of the first free peasant, the son of Rig and Amma. Rig was the human form taken by the god Heimdall when he produced the progenitors of the three social classes (thralls, peasants and nobility) with three different women. In the Scandinavian languages, Karl retains its meaning "man". In German, the origin of the name Karl can be traced to the word Kerl which is still used to describe somewhat rough and common men. As is the world churl and churlish in English.

[edit] Male given names

Carl (English, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, classic German)
Carlos (Portuguese, Spanish)
Carlo (Italian)
Carol (Romanian)
Carolus (Latin)
Calle (Swedish)
Cathal (Irish) this is an equation, not a true form of Carl
Charles (French, English); Diminutive variants include: Charlie, Chaz, Chuck, Chucky, Chuckles.
Charlys (Cornish)
Charl (Afrikaans)
Cormac (Irish) this is an equation, not a true form of Carl
Karl (German, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic)
Karlo (Croatian, Serbian)
Karel (Czech, Dutch)
Karolis (Lithuanian)
Karol (Polish, Slovak)
Karolos/Κάρολος (Greek)
Károly (Hungarian)
Kaarle (Finnish)
Séarlas (Irish)
Siarl (Welsh)
Teàrlach (Scots Gaelic)