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Jarl

Boys' name

Chieftain, nobleman

Jarl has been given to 137 babies in the U.S. since 1919. 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 1926, with 8 recorded.

Babies named Jarl, 1972

1 in 524,000

Jarl over time, 1880–2025

Boys
0246818801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Jarl: meaning, origin, and history

Chieftain, nobleman

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Jarl means

Jarl means “chieftain, nobleman”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Jarl is used in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Norse Mythology and Old Norse.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈjɑɾl/ for Jarl.

Origin, language, and formation

Jarl is used in Norwegian and Swedish.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 137 boys were recorded with the name Jarl between 1919 and 1972. Its highest annual count was 8 in 1926; its best national rank was #2,982 in 1947.

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 Jarl?

Jarl had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1972, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1972
1 in 524,000
6 of 3,142,796 births
Among boys only
1 in 270,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 1972
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
363,071 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Jarl 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 1972 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 363,071 children born in 1972 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Jarl. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Jarls were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Jarl was born before 1952 — so the typical Jarl is around 73 today.

Median birth year
1952
About 73 years old
Biggest decade
1960s
25.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
58.4%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
75
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1960s — 25.5% of all recorded uses (35).

Is Jarl 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 1926 (8)
Years since peak
99
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
27.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,982
1947

Spellings of Jarl

Jarl is not the most common spelling — Paul is, with 19.5% against Jarl'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.

Jarl around the world

Where Jarl 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.

  • Norway
    1880–2024
    #468
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1951–1971
    #512
    in 1971

Popularity data from Statistics Norway and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Jarl 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
#2,982
1947
Peak year
1926
8 that year
First recorded
1919
Last recorded
1972
All-time count
137
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Jarl

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

JariJareeJarayJarisJaryJarvinJarryJarynJariahJareJaranJardaniJarebMarlTarlGarlJarrisJarinJaraeJarolJarelJarikJaryanJarom

Sibling names for Jarl

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 Jarl

Top names of 1926, Jarl's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1947Boys' names starting with J