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Karl History Etymology Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Sources

Karl History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Germany
Scotland

Etymology of Karl

What does the name Karl mean?

The surname Karl is a patronymic, derived from the first name of the father. It comes from the Old German personal name Karl from the Latin Carolus. The name became popular at an early date in France and surrounding territories because of the famed Emperor Charlemagne (ca.741-814). However, the name was mostly only used amongst the nobility and did not spread to the lower classes until the 17th century. At that time it became popular with The Roman Catholic population, due to devotion to Karl Borromaues who was the Cardinal and Archbishop of Mailand. With Romantic movement of the 19th century, the name re-emerged as the lives and names of the ancient knights and kings were glamorized.

Early Origins of the Karl family

The surname Karl was first found in the Rhineland of Germany, where it was first very popular among the nobility as a personal name and then became a family name.

Early History of the Karl family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Karl research. Another 53 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1275, 1400, 1450 and 1560 are included under the topic Early Karl History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Karl Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Karl, Karlmann, Karlan, Karlock and others.

Early Notables of the Karl family

Notables with the name Karl during this period were

the Karl family of Tittmoning

Karl Ranking

In the United States, the name Karl is the 5,123^rd most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 1

Karl migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Karl Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Johan Adam Karl, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1749 2
Wilhelm Karl, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1749 2
Casper Karl, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1750 2
Michael Karl, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1760 2
Jacob Karl, who was naturalized in Pennsylvania in 1765
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Karl Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Henry Karl, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1801 2
Johanna Karl, who arrived in America in 1839 2
Christian Karl, who landed in America in 1844 2
Ursula Karl, who immigrated to New York in 1847
Christoph Karl, who arrived in America in 1848 2
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Karl Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Ehard Karl, who arrived in Mobile, Ala in 1902 2

Karl migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Karl Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Leonard Karl, who was counted in the 1871 census in Ontario

Contemporary Notables of the name Karl (post 1700) +

George Matthew Karl (b. 1951), American former National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA) player
Coby Joseph Karl (b. 1983), American professional basketball player
Scott Karl (b. 1971), American Major League Baseball player
Andy Karl (b. 1914), American professional Major League Baseball player
Frederick Robert Karl, American literary scholar
Frederick B. Karl, American politician, Justice of Florida State Supreme Court, 1977-78 3
Benjamin Martin Karl (b. 1985), Austrian snowboarder with seven World Cup victories and one FIS World Ski Championships Victory
Wilhelm Karl Grimm (1786-1859), German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors, one half of the Brothers Grimm, the famous authors of "Grimm's Fairy Tales"
Steven Karl Pifer (b. 1953), American politician, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (1998-2000), senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center on the United States and Europe 4
Friedrich Karl Dörner (1911-1992), German archaeologist and epigrapher

Historic Events for the Karl family +

Air New Zealand Flight 901

Miss Kathleen Florence Karl (1918-1979), New Zealander passenger, from Ellerslie, Auckland, New Zealand aboard the Air New Zealand Flight 901 for an Antarctic sightseeing flight when it flew into Mount Erebus; she died in the crash 5

Sources +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 6) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 4) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Mount Erebus, Memorial, Roll of Remembrance (Retrieved 2018, February 21st). Retrieved from http://www.erebus.co.nz/memorialandawards/rollofremembrance.aspx