Karlson Surname Meaning & Coat of Arms

Long before computers fixed spellings, Karlson and Carlson were used side by side. The family name meaning is “Son of Carl”, the same as for Carlson.

Karlson coat of arms

Arms linked to Carlson and its spellings were granted to individual families; our heraldry team traces which line they belonged to.

A variant of Carlson

Spelled with “k” instead of “c”, Karlson shows how the same name was heard and written differently. Spellings drifted because names were written down by ear in parish books, tax rolls and passenger lists. Related forms: Karlsson and Carlsen.

The 2010 US Census counted 2,150 people named Karlson, ranking it number 14,006 among American surnames. Want more than a summary? See the Karlson family name pack.