Earl is a popular English given name meaning "warrior" or "nobleman" (originally "earl" was cognate to the Germanic title of Jarl, meaning a warrior-king). The name was sometimes used among servants of actual nobiliary earls, and instances of its usage date back to 12th-century England. Some of the holders of this name are:
"Big" Earl, fictional alien in the video game ToeJam & Earl and its sequelsEarl, fictional character in the animated TV series Rocko's Modern LifeEarl Abell (1892–1956), American football playerEarl E. Anderson (born 1919), American generalEarl Anthony (1938–2001), professional bowlerEarl Armstrong (1900–1986) Canadian politicianEarl I. Anzai, American politicianEarl Averill (1902–1983), professional baseball playerEarl Edwin Austin, American criminalEarl Babbie (born 1938), sociologistEarl Bakken (born 1924), inventor of the transistorized pacemakerEarl Balfour (born 1933) professional ice hockey playerEarl Banks (1924–1993), American football coachEarl Barish, Canadian businessmanEarl Barrett (born 1967) former footballerEarl Barron (born 1981), professional basketball playerEarl Bassett, fictional character in the film TremorsEarl Battey (1935–2003), professional baseball playerEarl Beecham (born 1965), American football playerEarl Holmes Bell (born 1955) pole vaulterEarl Bennett (born 1987) American football playerEarl Best (born 1947), American community organizer known as the 'Street Doctor'Earl Derr Biggers (1884–1933), American novelist and playwrightEarl Billings (born 1945), ActorEarl Bird, fictional character in the comic strip Motley's CrewEarl Black (born 1942), ProfessorEarl Blaik (1897–1989), American football coachEarl Blumenauer (born 1948), American politicianEarl Boen (born 1945), American actorEarl Bostic (1913–1965), American saxophonistEarl Boykins (born 1976), American basketball playerEarl Broady (1904–1992), American police officer, attorney, and judgeEarl Browder (1891–1973), American communistEarl Brown (coach) (1915–2003), American football and basketball player and coachEarl Brown (basketball, born 1952), Puerto Rican basketball playerEarl Johnson, multiple peopleEarl Jolly Brown (1939–2006), American actorEarl Brydges (1905–1975), American politicianEarl "Butch" Buchholz (born 1940), American tennis playerEarl Butz (born 1909), American politicianEarl Caddock (1888–1950), American professional wrestlerEarl Caldwell, American journalistEarl Welton Caldwell (1905–1981), American baseball playerEarl Camembert, fictional character in the TV series SCTVEarl Cameron (1915–2005), Canadian broadcasterEarl Cameron (born 1917), British actorEarl Campbell (born 1900), Canadian ice hockey playerEarl Christian Campbell (born 1955), American football playerEarl Chudoff (1907–1993), American politicianEarl "Dutch" Clark (1906–1978), American football playerEarl Cochell (born 1922), American tennis playerEarl Cochran (born 1981), American football playerEarl Collins (1895–1958), Canadian politicianEarl Conrad (1912–1986), American authorEarl Cook (1908–1996), American baseball playerEarl Cooper (1886–1965), American racecar driverMarion Earl Cooper (born 1957), American football playerEarl Cranston (1840–1932), American bishopEarl Cureton (born 1957), American basketball playerEarl Dawson (1925–1987), Canadian politicianEarl Devore (1888–1928), American racecar driverEarl Dittman, American film critic and publisherEarl Dodge (born 1932), American politicianEarl Doherty (born 1941), Canadian authorEarl Dotson (born 1970), American football playerEarl Douglas (radio), radio talk show producerEarl Durand (1913–1939), American mountain manEarl Duvall (1898–1969), American animatorEarl Eby (1894–1970), American athleteEarl Edwards (disambiguation), multiple peopleEarl Ehrhart (born 1959), American politicianEarl Hancock Ellis (1880–1923), U.S. Marine Corps officerEarl Emerson (born 1948), American novelistEarl Everett (born 1984), American football playerEarl Faison (born 1939), American football playerEarl Ferrell (born 1958), American football playerEarl Gillespie (1922–2003), American sportscasterEarl Grant (1933–1970), American pianistEarl G. Graves, Sr. (born 1935), American entrepreneur, publisher, businessman and philanthropistEarl G. Graves, Jr. (born 1962), American businessman and basketball playerEarl Grinols (born 1951), American professorEarl Gros (born 1940), American football playerEarl Hamner Jr. (born 1923), American writer and television producerEarl G. Harrison (1899–1955), American attorneyEarl Hebner, former WWE refereeEarl Hickey, fictional character in the TV series My Name Is EarlEarl Hindman (1942–2003), American actorEarl F. Hilliard (born 1942), American politicianEarl Hines (1903–1983), jazz pianistEarl Gladstone Hunt Jr (1918–2005), Methodist pastorEarl Dewitt Hutto (born 1926), American politicianEarl Jones (born 1964), American track and field athleteEarl Keeley (born 1936), Canadian football playerEarl Klugh (born 1954), American jazz guitaristEarl Floyd Kvamme (born 1938), American engineerEarl "Curly" Lambeau (1898–1965), founder of the Green Bay PackersEarl F. Landgrebe (1916–1986), American politicianEarl C. Latourette (1889–1956), American judgeEarl Levine (born 1968), American entrepreneurEarl McCarthy (born 1969), Irish freestyle swimmerEarl D. McIntyre, Canadian politicianEarl C. Michener (1876–1957), American politicianEarl Monroe (born 1944), American basketball playerEarl "Madman" Muntz (1914–1987), American merchandiserEarl Murray (1926–1994), American football playerEarl Pitts, fictional radio characterEarl Edwin Pitts (born 1953), American spyEarl Sande (1898-1968), American Hall of Fame jockey and thoroughbred horse trainerEarl Scruggs (1924-2012), American banjo playerEarl Simmons (born 1970), American rapper and actor better known as DMXEarl Slipher (1883–1964), astronomerEarl Smith (1910s outfielder) (1891–1943), American baseball playerEarl Smith (1950s outfielder) (1928–2014), American baseball playerEarl Smith (catcher) (1897–1963), American baseball playerEarl Smith (coach) (1917–2012), American football, basketball, and baseball coachEarl "Chinna" Smith (born 1955), Jamaican guitaristEarl T. Smith (1903–1991), American politicianEarl "J.R." Smith III (born 1985), American basketball playerEarl Stevens (born 1967), American rapper better known as E-40Earl Stevens, Jr., E-40's son and producer better known as Droop-EEarl Thomas Conley (born 1941), American country singerEarl Van Dorn (1820–1863), former U.S Army officerEarl Dominic Vernius, fictional character in Prelude to DuneEarl Wilbur Sutherland Jr. (1915–1974), American psychologistEarl Warren, former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme CourtEarl Watson (born 1979), professional basketball playerEarl Williams (basketball player), "the Twirl", (born 1951) American-Israeli professional basketball playerEarl Williams (1970s catcher), former major league baseball playerEarl Weaver (born 1930), former baseball manager of the Baltimore OriolesEarl Irvin West (1920-2011), American church historianEarl Wild (1915–2010), American pianistEarl Wilson (1934–2005), former MLB pitcherEarl Woods (1932–2006), father of Tiger WoodsJames Earl Jones (born 1931), American actorWentworth Earl Miller (born 1972), American actor