Karl
A surname from a personal name meaning “Charles” in several European languages, and sometimes also linked to older words for “man” or “churl.”
The #5,308 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,036 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Karl is most straightforwardly a surname taken from the given name Karl, the continental form of Charles. In the German and Scandinavian naming tradition, Karl simply means “Charles,” and many surnames arose from that personal name. Some older English surname writers also connected forms like Karl or Carle with the Middle English word for “churl” or “rustic,” but that is a separate and less certain line of explanation for the surname in English records.
History
The given name Karl has been especially common in German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, so the surname likely arose independently in more than one place from a father’s or ancestor’s forename. In English-language surname books, Karl is sometimes treated alongside Carle and related spellings, reflecting medieval overlap between personal names, nicknames, and occupational or social labels. The name also appears in Scandinavian contexts as a common element in personal names and bynames.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In old Norse and medieval Scandinavian naming, Karl could function as both an ordinary personal name and part of longer compound names, which helped it spread widely as a surname base.
From the historical record
“Sueinn (Swed. Sven, Dan.-Norw. Suend, a youth, servant), like the almost equally lowly Karl (churl), became a royal name — Sueinn konungr tiagu-skegg . . . [ob. 1014]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)