Name Awesome

Carel

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Form of Charles

Carel has been given to 226 babies in the U.S. since 1915. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1925, with 9 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 73% boys, 27% girls all-time.

Babies named Carel, 2024

1 in 418,000

Carel over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Carel over time

In 2024, Carel went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19152024

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Carel: meaning, origin, and history

Form of Charles

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Carel means

Carel is a form of Charles.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Carel is used in Dutch.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈkaː.rəl/ for Carel.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Carel → Charles. The family’s meaning is “free man”, recorded in English with the source elements karilaz.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Charles.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 166 boys were recorded with the name Carel between 1915 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1925; its best national rank was #2,588 in 1934.

In the United States, 60 girls were recorded with the name Carel between 1924 and 1959. Its highest annual count was 11 in 1949; its best national rank was #3,210 in 1949.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Carel?

Carel had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2024, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2024
1 in 418,000
8 of 3,342,801 births
Among boys only
1 in 215,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2024
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
289,633 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Carel sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2024 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 289,633 children born in 2024 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Carel. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Carels were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Carel was born before 1934 — so the typical Carel is around 91 today.

Median birth year
1934
About 91 years old
Biggest decade
1930s
24.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
16.3%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
43
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1930s — 24.1% of all recorded uses (40).

Is Carel rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1925 (9)
Years since peak
100
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
21.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,588
1934

Spellings of Carel

Carel is not the most common spelling — Carl is, with 18.6% against Carel's <0.01%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Carel around the world

Where Carel ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • France
    1973–2025
    #4,977
    in 2025
  • South Australia
    1962–1962
    #548
    in 1962

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Carel by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,588
1934
Peak year
1925
9 that year
First recorded
1915
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
166
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,210
1949
Peak year
1949
11 that year
First recorded
1924
Last recorded
1959
All-time count
60
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Carel

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

CarrelCarioCarinCareemCarmiCariCarlyCarwynBerelCarbonHarelAurelCarderCardenYarelCaronCarryCarlensCarylCarlasAzarelCaroldCarrCarla

Sibling names for Carel

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Carel

Top names of 1925, Carel's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1934Boys' names starting with C