How Many People Are Named Karel?
An estimated 1,260 people in the United States have the first name Karel. It is used for both genders, with 66.8% female. The average bearer is 53 years old, and Karel peaked in popularity in 1939 with 76 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Karel as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Karel paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Karel has shifted from predominantly female to increasingly male in recent decades.
Estimated Living Americans
1,260
About 1 in 272,027 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
66.8% confidence
Average Age
53
years old
Peak Year
1939
76 births
Total Registered
1,809
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Karel
Karel is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (33.2%) and females (66.8%). Out of 1,809 total births registered, 601 were male and 1,208 were female.
Karel as a male name
Ranked #9,392 in 2024
8 male births in 2024
Peak: 2023 (22 births)
Karel as a female name
Ranked #11,938 in 2009
9 female births in 2009
Peak: 1939 (69 births)
Karel: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Karel span from the 1910s to the 2020s, covering 12 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1940s, when 400 babies were registered. Karel has declined significantly from its peak in the 1940s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Karel by Decade
How has Karel tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Karel by State
Birth registrations for Karel span all 12 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Michigan, Illinois. The lowest are in Ohio, New York, Nebraska. On average, about 12 Karels were registered per state.
Karel + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Karel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Karel
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
Karel: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karel?
We estimate approximately 1,260 people named Karel are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 272,027 Americans share this first name.
Is Karel a common name?
Karel is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 91.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 1,809 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Karel most popular?
Karel reached peak popularity in 1939, when 76 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Karel is approximately 53 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Karel a female name?
Karel is predominantly female. 66.8% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Karel Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Karel Smith, Karel Johnson, Karel Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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