Karel is a given name

Given name

A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...

 in Czech

Czech language

Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...

 and Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

, equivalent to Charles

Charles

Charles is a given name for males and is borrowed from the French form of the Latin Carolus Charles is a given name for males and is borrowed from the French form of the Latin Carolus...

, meaning Strong Man.

Among the Czechs

The name Karel (and its diminutives, Karlík, Karlíček, and Kája) appears frequently among the Czechs. In 2006, 124,784 Karels lived in the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

, making the name the thirteenth most popular Czech name. Between 1999 and 2002, the number of Karels in the Czech Republic dropped by 2.7%, and the name dropped out of the twenty most popular newborn child names.

Famous Czechs with this given name include the poet Karel Hynek Mácha

Karel Hynek Mácha

Karel Hynek Mácha was a Czech romantic poet.- Biography :Mácha grew up in Prague, the son of a foreman at a mill. He learned Latin and German in school...

, the journalist Karel Havlíček Borovský

Karel Havlícek Borovský

Karel Havlíček Borovský was a Czech writer, poet, critic, politician, journalist, and publisher. He lived and studied at the Gymnasium in Německý Brod , and his house on the main square is today the Havlíček Museum...

, the writer Karel Čapek

Karel Capek

Karel Čapek was Czech writer of the 20th century.-Biography:Born in 1890 in the Bohemian mountain village of Malé Svatoňovice to an overbearing, emotional mother and a distant yet adored father, Čapek was the youngest of three siblings...

 (after whom the Karel programming language

Karel programming language

Karel is an educational programming language for beginners, created by Richard E. Pattis in his book Karel The Robot: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Programming. Pattis used the language in his courses at Stanford University...

 was named), the composer Karel Husa

Karel Husa

Karel Husa is a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Music Composition...

, and the singer Karel Gott

Karel Gott

Karel Gott is a Czech Schlager singer, and an amateur painter. He is considered as the most successful male singer in former Czechoslovakia and currently in the Czech Republic; he has being voted the Most Favorite Male Singer in the annual national pool Český slavík in total thirty-six times...

.

The feminine version of the name, Karla, (diminutive Karlička) is infrequently used.