Karlo
Fewer than a hundred men in Poland carry it, about 80 in all, so meeting one would stick in your memory. Germanic at root, from a word for "free man".
Karlo Pronunciation
Karlo is pronounced KAHR-lo (/ˈkarlɔ/).
What Karlo means
Where Karlo comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Karlo begins in a Germanic word, karl, which named a free man, a grown male of the tribe who answered to no master. From that one root Europe drew a wide family: Charles in France, Carlo in Italy, Karol next door in Poland. Karlo is the South Slavic shape of it, most at home in Croatia. On a Polish class register it sits one letter from Karol, close enough that a teacher might read past the gap.
The short meaning stays honest to the old word. Free man, człowiek wolny. That sense was there from the start, before any saint or king borrowed the sound.
Later bearers gave the root its weight. Karol Borromeo, the reforming cardinal, fixed the Polish form to 4 November in the calendar. Karlo keeps the same lineage while wearing a Croatian ending, and the meaning under it holds: a free man.
How many people are named Karlo
1 in 266827 men in Poland is named Karlo. 80 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #3975 among male names.
Karlo's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 boys were given the name in 2025. It has been climbing since 2025.
Karlo as a middle name
Karlo is a first name for 80 men in Poland and a middle name for another 3, a 96/4 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 6470th, between Kamilian (3) and Kasian (3).
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#6468 Kameron3
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#6469 Kamilian3
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#6470 Karlo3
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#6471 Kasian3
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#6472 Kasimier3