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Help[Opinions] Carl
Lately I've found Carl to be kind and charming, though I think many people (at least in the U.S.) think of it simply as an old man's name. What are your thoughts?
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I knew a man - connection, not relative - whose given name was Mandeville. Naturally, he was known as Mandy and naturally, he didn't like this and changed it to Carl as soon as he was old enough to do so.
Clearly, therefore, he thought of it as being about as testosterone-fuelled as a name can be! So that's coloured my perceptions.
But another perception is more dodgy: where I live, people speaking English tend not to pronounce the letter r unless it's the first sound in a word or syllable. So Carl sounds like Cahl, which in its turn sounds like 'kaal', the Afrikaans word for naked. And since the former Mandy spent a lot of time pursuing ladies, living off their money and dumping them when it ran out, this seemed like a sad comment on his lifestyle and, er, assets.
Can you tell I'm not a fan?
Clearly, therefore, he thought of it as being about as testosterone-fuelled as a name can be! So that's coloured my perceptions.
But another perception is more dodgy: where I live, people speaking English tend not to pronounce the letter r unless it's the first sound in a word or syllable. So Carl sounds like Cahl, which in its turn sounds like 'kaal', the Afrikaans word for naked. And since the former Mandy spent a lot of time pursuing ladies, living off their money and dumping them when it ran out, this seemed like a sad comment on his lifestyle and, er, assets.
Can you tell I'm not a fan?
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Great name - spelled with either a K or a C - and may be considered a (kissing?) cousin to Carol.
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It's a family name, but I still don't like it. Karl doesn't make it much better.
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We had friends who named their son Carl in 1981 and even then I thought it was dated and didn't see the appeal.
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Huh, I wouldn't have thought of it as old name, actually. I know a Carl my age (32), one younger (mid-twenties), one in his late thirties, and one in his early forties.
I don't really have strong feelings either way on the name. I guess it would be kind of charming on a baby, just be virtue of being unexpected.
I don't really have strong feelings either way on the name. I guess it would be kind of charming on a baby, just be virtue of being unexpected.
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Sure it's a clunky old-man name by most standards, but that really only makes it adorable in the same way that naming your kid any older name would be. It's about on par with George for me.
Old but cheekily cute.
I love it's simplicity too.
Old but cheekily cute.
I love it's simplicity too.
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I used to like this name, but not so much anymore. I always preferred Karl.
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I tend to see it as a slightly more urban version of Earl, and I'm not a fan of Earl.
For some reason I find the Karl spelling more appealing/modern, though.
The only way I'd find Carl charming would be as a nn for Charlemagne.
For some reason I find the Karl spelling more appealing/modern, though.
The only way I'd find Carl charming would be as a nn for Charlemagne.
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It's a nice, friendly, average-Joe kind of name. I wouldn't use it, because I like Charles much better, but Carl is nice.
I have a friend whose name is Kyle, and when he was born in 1980, some neighbors of his out in the country misheard his name and thought it was Carl. In the local accent, the mistake isn't all that hard to make. He's sometimes called Carl for fun by his family.
I have a friend whose name is Kyle, and when he was born in 1980, some neighbors of his out in the country misheard his name and thought it was Carl. In the local accent, the mistake isn't all that hard to make. He's sometimes called Carl for fun by his family.
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