Karl is a Germanic masculine name meaning "free man". The name originates in Old Norse. It is a variant of the English Charles, and the Latin Carolus.
Nobles
edit- Karl der Große (German for 'Charles the Great'), also known as Karolus Magnus in Latin and Charlemagne in French, 747–814), a Frankish King and the first Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
- Karl, Truchsess von Waldburg (1548–1593), Imperial minister
- Karl, Count Chotek of Chotkow and Wognin (1783–1868), Austrian chancellor, Government President and school reformer of Bohemia
- Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1813–1878), German duke
- Karl, Prince of Isenburg-Büdingen (1838–1899), head of the German house of Isenburg and Büdingen
- Karl, Freiherr von Prel (1839–1899), German philosopher and writer on mysticism and the occult
- Karl I of Austria (1887–1922), the last Emperor of Austria
- Karl, 8th Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (1904–1990), German Roman Catholic nobleman
Given name
edit- Karl Abraham (1877–1925), German psychoanalyst
- Karl Albrecht (1920–2014), German entrepreneur and billionaire
- Karl Auerbach (born 1949), computer scientist
- Karl Barth (1886–1968), seminal Swiss Reformed Theologian
- Karl Bartos (born 1952), German musician
- Karl Becker (general) (1879–1940), German engineer and officer
- Karl Becker (painter) (1820–1900), German painter
- Karl Becker (philologist) (1775–1849), German philologist
- Karl Beckersachs (1886–1951), German actor
- Karl Benz (1844–1929), German engineer
- Karl Berggren, American electrical engineer
- Karl August Leopold Böhm (1894–1981), Austrian conductor
- Karl von In der Maur (1852–1913), Austrian statesman
- Karl Blossfeldt (1865–1932), German artist
- Karl Böhm (1894–1981), Austrian conductor
- Karl Bonatz (1882–1951), German architect
- Karl Brandt (1904–1948), German Nazi SS physician executed for war crimes
- Karl Ferdinand Braun (1850–1918), German electrical engineer
- Karl Briullov, Russian painter
- Karl Brooks (born 2000), American football player
- Karl Brugger (1941–1984), a German foreign correspondent for and author
- Karl Chmielewski, German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
- Karl Chua (born 1978), Filipino economist
- Karl Collins, British actor
- Karl Cook (born 1990), American show jumper
- Karl Dall (1941–2020), German comedian and singer
- Karl Davies (born 1982), English actor
- Karl Denke (1860–1924), prolific and cannibalistic German serial killer
- Karl Ludwig Diehl (1896–1958), German actor
- Karl Dönitz (1891–1980), German admiral
- Karl Drews (1920–1963), American baseball player
- Karl Duldig (1902–1986), Austrian-Australian sculptor
- Karl Etlinger (1879–1946), German actor
- Karl Farmer (born 1954), American football player
- Karl Fazer (1866–1932), Finnish businessman and sport shooter
- Karl Fritzsch (1903–1945), German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant who was the first to use Zyklon B for mass murder
- Karl Gebhardt (1897–1948), German Nazi SS physician who conducted criminal medical experiments, executed for war crimes.
- Karl Glusman (born 1988), American actor
- Karl Göbel (1900 – 1945) Nazi Germany general
- Karl Green (1947–) British musician, bass player for British pop group Herman's Hermits.
- Karl Hammes (1896–1939), German operatic baritone and fighter pilot
- Karl Hannemann (1895–1953), German actor
- Karl Harst (1492–1563), German diplomat and assistant of Erasmus
- Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905–1963), German composer
- Karl Haushofer (1869–1946), German geopolitician
- Karl Hess (1923–1994), American comedian
- Karl Hoblitzelle (1879–1967), American theater owner and philanthropist
- Karl-Friedrich Höcker (1911–2000), German Nazi SS concentration camp officer and war criminal
- Karl Holz (Nazi) (1895–1945), German Nazi
- Karl Jacobs (born 1998), American streamer and YouTuber
- Karl Jaspers (1883–1969), German philosopher
- Karl Joseph (born 1993), American football player
- Karl Kalkun (1927–1990), Estonian actor
- Karl Kassulke (1941–2008), American football player
- Karl Heinrich Kaufhold (1932–2020), German economic historian
- Karl Keating, (born 1950) Catholic apologist
- Karl Klug (born 1988), American football player
- Karl Kneidinger (1882–1952), Austrian actor
- Karl-Otto Koch (1897–1945), German Nazi commandant of concentration camps
- Karl Kraus (writer) (1874–1936), Austrian writer
- Karl Christian Friedrich Krause (1781–1832), German philosopher
- Karl Kruszelnicki (born 1948), Australian television and radio personality
- Karl Künstler (1901–1945), German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
- Karl Lagerfeld (1933–2019), German fashion designer
- Karl Landsteiner (1868–1943), Austrian biologist and physician
- Karl Lauterbach (born 1963), German Federal Minister of Health
- Karl Lehmann (1936–2018), German prelate of the Catholic Church, Bishop of Mainz from 1983 to 2016
- Karl Leo Heinrich Lehmann (1894–1960), German-born American art historian, archaeologist, and professor
- Karl Linnas (1919–1987), Estonian Nazi concentration camp commandant
- Karl Lucas (born 1972), English actor and comedian
- Karl Malden (1912–2009), American actor
- Karl Malone (born 1963), American basketball player
- Karl Maron (1903–1975), German politician
- Karl Marx (1818–1883), Prussian philosopher, father of historical materialism
- Karl Mecklenburg (born 1960), American football player
- Karl Möckel (1901–1948), German Nazi SS officer at Auschwitz concentration camp executed for war crimes
- Karl Moik (1938–2015), Austrian television presenter and singer
- Karl Nehammer (born 1972), Austrian politician
- Karl Olive (born 1969), French sports journalist and politician
- Karl Olson (1930–2010), American baseball player
- Karl von Oberkamp (1893–1947), German SS commander executed for war crimes
- Karl Pearson (1857–1936), English statistician
- Karl Pilkington (born 1972), English podcaster, author and former radio producer
- Karl Platen (1877–1952), German actor
- Karl Popper (1902–1994), Austrian/British philosopher
- Karl Power, British prankster
- Karl Rahm (1907–1947), German SS officer, commandant of the Theresienstadt concentration camp executed for war crimes
- Karl Rapp (1882–1962), German engineer
- Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes, American baseball player
- Karl Rove (born 1950), American political advisor
- Karl Roy (1968–2012), Filipino rock singer
- Karl Schiewerling (1951–2021), German politician
- Karl Silfverberg (1899–1978), Swedish Air Force major general
- Karl Heinz Schnell (1915–2013), German jet pilot during WW II
- Karl Eberhard Schöngarth (1903–1946), German Nazi SS war criminal, executed for war crimes
- Karl Schädler (1804–1872), President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein
- Karl Shiels (1971–2019), Irish actor
- Karl Schlyter (1879–1959), Swedish jurist and politician
- Karl Singer (born 1943), American football player
- Karl Söllner, (1903–1986), German-Austrian chemist
- Karl Stefanovic (born 1971), Australian television presenter
- Karl Steubl (1910–1945), Nazi war criminal
- Karl Streibel (1903–1986), German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
- Karl Svoboda (1929–2022), Austrian politician
- Karl O. Thomas (born 1963), United States Navy vice admiral
- Karl Urban (born 1972), New Zealand actor
- Karl Virtanen (born 1971), Sweden-Finnish journalist
- Karl Edward Wagner (1945–1994), American writer, editor and publisher
- Karl Wallenda (1905–1978), German-born tightrope artist
- Karl Weierstrass (1815–1897), German mathematician
- Karl Wendlinger (born 1968), Austrian race car driver
- Karl Williams (born 1971), American football player
- Karl Michael Ziehrer (1843–1922), Austrian composer
Fictional characters
edit- Karl the Giant, a character from the 2003 film Big Fish
- Karl C. Agathon, a character in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series
- Karl Childers, protagonist in the 1996 film Sling Blade
- Karl Haulzemoff, a character in the 2011 film Cars 2
- Karl Hootkin, a character in the 2012 film Big Miracle
- Karl Mayer, divorce attorney and ex-husband of Susan Mayer on Desperate Housewives
- Karl Morgenthau, the first Marvel Comics supervillain known as Flag-Smasher
- Karl Stromberg, the main antagonist in the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me
- Karl Tanner, a character in the TV series Game of Thrones
- Karl Walken, fictional mayor in Black Cat magna series
See also
edit- All pages with titles beginning with Karl
- All pages with titles containing Karl
- Karl (disambiguation)
- Karl (surname)
- Karli (name)
- Karol (name)
- Karyl
- Rígsþula (Churl)
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