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Karel

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

English equivalent of Charles

Karel has been given to 1,814 babies in the U.S. since 1932. 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 1939, with 69 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 67% girls, 33% boys all-time.

Babies named Karel, 2009

1 in 424,000

Karel over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2025, Karel went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19162025

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.

Karel: meaning, origin, and history

English equivalent of Charles

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Karel means

Karel is a English equivalent of Charles.

Origin, language, and formation

Karel is used in Czech, Dutch, Icelandic and Slovene.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Charles.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Czech, Karel is pronounced [ˈkarɛl].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,208 girls were recorded with the name Karel between 1932 and 2009. Its highest annual count was 69 in 1939; its best national rank was #842 in 1939.

In the United States, 606 boys were recorded with the name Karel between 1916 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 22 in 2023; its best national rank was #2,660 in 1934.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #13,075 in 2020 to #12,962 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #10,085 in 2015 to #12,962 in 2025.

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 Karel?

Karel had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2009, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2009
1 in 424,000
9 of 3,820,315 births
Among girls only
1 in 204,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2009
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
294,228 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Karel sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2009 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 294,228 children born in 2009 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Karel. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Karels were born

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

Median birth year
1952
About 73 years old
Biggest decade
1940s
29.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
9.7%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
704
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1940s — 29.9% of all recorded uses (361).

Is Karel 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 1939 (69)
Years since peak
86
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
25.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#842
1939

Spellings of Karel

Karel is not the most common spelling — Karen is, with 31.3% against Karel's 0.04%.

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.

Where Karel is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Karel was most concentrated in Michigan — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 503,249 across all states with data. It was least common in Oklahoma (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Michigan1 in 100,000
  2. 2California1 in —
  3. 3Illinois1 in —
  4. 4Indiana1 in —
  5. 5Kansas1 in —
  6. 6Missouri1 in —
  7. 7Nebraska1 in —
  8. 8New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Karel has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Karel is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Karel was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,597,955 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Florida1 in —
  3. 3Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Karel has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Karel around the world

Where Karel 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
    1969–2011
    #4,005
    in 2011
  • Canada
    1991–2001
    #2,611
    in 2001
  • South Australia
    1948–1965
    #674
    in 1965

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

Karel by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#842
1939
Peak year
1939
69 that year
First recorded
1932
Last recorded
2009
All-time count
1,208
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#12,962
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 113
Best rank ever
#2,660
1934
Peak year
2023
22 that year
First recorded
1916
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
606
Count in 2025
5

Names similar to Karel

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

KarineKarysKarimaKarminKarynaKarsenKarryKarsonKarriKarymeKarmynKarraKarlynKarmanKarieKarimeKarelyPerelKarizmaKariahKareliKareenaKareeKaris

Sibling names for Karel

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 Karel

Top names of 1939, Karel's peak yearThe 1930s in fullOther names that peaked in 1939Girls' names starting with KCharles Variations & NicknamesCzech Boy NamesSlovenian Boy Names