# Earl (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/earl/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “nobleman” |
| Pronunciation | /ɝl/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Earle |
| US babies named this | 291,421 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 289,174 / 2,247 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 181, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From earl (“nobleman”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 15 | 4,034 |
| 1974 | 7 | 7,105 |
| 1975 | 14 | 4,414 |
| 1976 | 14 | 4,418 |
| 1977 | 10 | 5,995 |
| 1978 | 10 | 6,067 |
| 1979 | 16 | 4,473 |
| 1980 | 11 | 6,026 |
| 1981 | 9 | 6,945 |
| 1982 | 8 | 7,673 |
| 1983 | 8 | 7,494 |
| 1984 | 9 | 6,965 |
| 1986 | 7 | 8,799 |
| 1987 | 12 | 6,035 |
| 1988 | 5 | 12,355 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 115 | 1,431 |
| 2012 | 123 | 1,371 |
| 2013 | 98 | 1,580 |
| 2014 | 105 | 1,526 |
| 2015 | 129 | 1,355 |
| 2016 | 110 | 1,525 |
| 2017 | 114 | 1,480 |
| 2018 | 98 | 1,649 |
| 2019 | 97 | 1,664 |
| 2020 | 68 | 2,075 |
| 2021 | 99 | 1,667 |
| 2022 | 78 | 1,971 |
| 2023 | 63 | 2,251 |
| 2024 | 68 | 2,158 |
| 2025 | 63 | 2,236 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 3 | 4,678 |
| 2011 | 7 | 2,613 |
| 2012 | 4 | 3,987 |
| 2013 | 5 | 3,315 |
| 2014 | 9 | 2,248 |
| 2015 | 6 | 3,004 |
| 2016 | 3 | 4,810 |
| 2017 | 7 | 2,734 |
| 2018 | 8 | 2,445 |
| 2019 | 4 | 3,937 |
| 2020 | 8 | 2,404 |
| 2021 | 4 | 3,990 |
| 2022 | 6 | 3,048 |
| 2023 | 3 | 4,991 |
| 2024 | 5 | 3,688 |

## In other languages

- Japanese: アール
- Russian: Эрл
- Swedish: Jarl

## People named Earl

- James Earl Jones, American actor (1931–2024)
- Earl Wilbur Sutherland, Jr., American pharmacologist (1915–1974)
- Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1953 to 1969 (1891–1974)
- James Earl Ray, American criminal, convicted for the murder of civil rights activist and Nobel peace prize
- Earl Holliman, American actor (1928–2024)
- Earl Hines, American jazz pianist (1903–1983)
- Earl Boykins, American basketball player (born 1976)
- Earl Scruggs, American musician (1924–2012)
- Earl Derr Biggers, American novelist and playwright (1884–1933)
- Earl Sweatshirt, American rapper and record producer (born 1994)
- Earl Boen, American actor (1941–2023)
- Earl Monroe, American basketball player (born 1944)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.