Karyl
A feminine variant of the English name Caryl of French origin.
Name Census estimates that about 1,301 living Americans carry the first name Karyl. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Karyl today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karyl births was 1944 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karyl. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Karyl is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Karyls were born before 1968.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 263,455 Americans
Peak year
1944
95 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1997 SSA rank
#14,864
Tracked since 1923
Census
Karyl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,900 people with the first name Karyl, which placed it at #7,839 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,839
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,900 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karyl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karyl is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Black (4.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Karyl described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Karyl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.1% · 1,692
- Black or African American4.1% · 78
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 48
- Two or more races2.0% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 8
Popularity
Karyl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karyl from the 1920s through to the 1990s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 636 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Karyl by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Karyl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karyls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Illinois, New York, Michigan recorded the most babies named Karyl, while Texas, Oregon, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Karyl
The name Karyl is a modern English variant of the masculine name Karl, which has its origins in the Germanic language family. The root of the name can be traced back to the Old Norse word "karlr," meaning "man" or "husband," and the Old English word "carl," which shared a similar meaning.
The name Karl gained widespread popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions where Germanic languages were spoken. It was a common name among the Frankish and Anglo-Saxon nobility, and its popularity was further bolstered by the reign of Charlemagne, the Frankish king and Holy Roman Emperor, who ruled from 768 to 814 CE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Karyl can be found in the court records of King Edward I of England, who reigned from 1272 to 1307 CE. The records mention a knight named Karyl de Montfort, who fought in the Welsh wars during the late 13th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Karyl, although the spelling has varied across different regions and time periods. One such figure was Karyl Kuh (1908-1963), an American art historian and curator who played a significant role in promoting modern art in the United States during the mid-20th century.
Another prominent figure was Karyl Robin Vaughan (1932-2006), a British crime novelist who wrote under the pen name Elizabeth Ferrars. Her works, which spanned over four decades, were renowned for their intricate plots and complex characters.
In the literary realm, Karyl Kircuss (1914-1984) was an American poet and editor who co-founded the influential literary magazine "The Hudson Review" in 1947. Her poetry collections, such as "The Dance of Forces" (1948) and "The Final Presence" (1958), garnered critical acclaim.
The name Karyl also found its way into the world of sports. Karyl Rolfe (1891-1963) was an Australian cricketer who played for the Australian national team in the early 20th century, earning recognition for his exceptional batting skills.
Lastly, Karyl Van Bemmel (1945-2005) was a Dutch-American fashion designer and entrepreneur who founded the popular clothing brand "Phi" in the 1970s. Her innovative designs and business acumen made her a trailblazer in the fashion industry.
While the name Karyl has undergone various spellings and adaptations over the centuries, its historical roots can be traced back to the Germanic languages and the Old Norse word "karlr," reflecting its connection to masculinity and strength.
People
Karyl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karyl as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Karyl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karyl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,301 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karyl going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 263,455 US residents.
Is Karyl a common name?
We classify Karyl as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,106 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karyl most popular?
The single biggest year for Karyl was 1944, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karyl is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Karyl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,900 people with the name Karyl, or 0.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,839 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Karyl in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Karyl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karyl leans strongly female. 1,840 people counted with this name were female (96.8%), compared with 61 male bearers (3.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Karyl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karyl is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Black (4.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Karyl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Karyl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.1% (1,692 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Karyl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karyl a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Karyl in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Karyl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karyl in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Karyl can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Karyl?
You can see how many people have the name Karyl on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.