Earl
From the English noble title, which goes back to the Old English eorl, meaning nobleman or warrior. It joined the stock of given names in nineteenth-century America.
Earl in 2025
Earl was given to 63 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 4,804th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 52,624 babies born.
The history of Earl
Earl reached its highest point in 1921, when 6,797 babies were given the name, ranking 72nd that year. Its best-ever ranking was 69th, in 1926.
Across the 146 years of records since 1880, 291,421 babies have been named Earl. Half of them were born before 1933, which places the name's centre of gravity with the Silent Generation.
Earl by decade
| Decade | Babies named Earl | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 4,843 | 95 |
| 1890s | 8,389 | 83 |
| 1900s | 9,387 | 97 |
| 1910s | 40,557 | 70 |
| 1920s | 64,153 | 69 |
| 1930s | 45,014 | 79 |
| 1940s | 39,366 | 112 |
| 1950s | 32,832 | 191 |
| 1960s | 20,524 | 304 |
| 1970s | 11,533 | 366 |
| 1980s | 7,466 | 524 |
| 1990s | 3,908 | 847 |
| 2000s | 1,906 | 1,591 |
| 2010s | 1,104 | 2,993 |
| 2020s | 439 | 3,578 |
Where Earl is heading
Earl has fallen 51% over the past decade, from 129 babies in 2015 to 63 in 2025.
That is less than 5% of its 1921 peak — Earl is now a rare name in the United States.
Names like Earl
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Earl.