In 2025, 63 US boys were named Earl, making it the 2,236th most common boys’ name of the year, down 78 places from #2,158 in 2024. That is 5 fewer than the 68 boys named Earl in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #20, reached in 1894. The most boys given the name in a single year was 6,754, in 1921. For comparison, it was #1,355 in 2015 and #92 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Earl in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 335 babies with the name. In all, 291,421 US babies have been given the name, 0.8% of them girls and 99% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1920s, with 64,153 babies named Earl.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 858 US boys were named Earl; the busiest of those years was 2017, with 114. In 2025 that was about 1 in 27,112 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Earl ranked highest in Michigan in 2025, at #1,154 for boys there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Earle (11,790 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Erle and Irl are summarised on this page.