Earl is an English given name, predominantly popular in North America, meaning "warrior" or "nobleman" ^[1] and derived from the rank of nobility of the same name. Instances of its use as a given name date back to 12th-century England.^[2] Some of the holders of this name are:

• "Big" Earl, fictional alien in the video game ToeJam & Earl and its sequels
• Earl, fictional character in the animated TV series Rocko's Modern Life
• Earl Abell (1892–1956), American football player
• Earl E. Anderson (1919–2015), American general
• Earl Anthony (1938–2001), American professional bowler
• Earl Armstrong (1900–1986), Canadian politician
• Earl I. Anzai (1941–2023), American politician
• Earl Averill (1902–1983), professional baseball player
• Earl Edwin Austin, American criminal
• Earl Babbie (born 1938), American sociologist
• Earl Bakken (1924–2018), American inventor of the transistorized pacemaker
• Earl Balfour (1933–2018), Canadian professional ice hockey player
• Earl Balmer (1935–2019), American NASCAR Cup Series driver
• Earl Banks (1924–1993), American football coach
• Earl Barish (born 1943), Canadian businessman
• Earl Barrett (born 1967), English former footballer
• Earl Barron (born 1981), American professional basketball player
• Earl Bassett, fictional character in the film Tremors
• Earl Battey (1935–2003), American professional baseball player
• Earl Beecham (born 1965), American football player
• Earl Bell (born 1955), American retired pole vaulter
• Earl Bennett (born 1987), American football player
• Earl Best (1947–2021), American community organizer known as the 'Street Doctor'
• Earl Derr Biggers (1884–1933), American novelist and playwright
• Earl Billings (born 1945), American actor
• Earl Bird, fictional character in the comic strip Motley's Crew
• Earl Black (political scientist) (born 1942), American academic
• Earl Blaik (1897–1989), American football coach
• Earl Blumenauer (born 1948), American politician
• Earl Boen (1941–2023), American actor
• Earl Bostic (1913–1965), American saxophonist
• Earl Boykins (born 1976), American basketball player
• Earl K. Brent (1914–1977), American songwriter and composer
• Earl Broady (1904–1992), American police officer, attorney, and judge
• Earl Browder (1891–1973), American communist
• Earl Brown (coach) (1915–2003), American football and basketball player and coach
• Earl Brown (basketball, born 1952) (born 1952), Puerto Rican basketball player
• Earl Johnson (disambiguation), multiple people
• Earl Jolly Brown (1939–2006), American actor
• Earl Brydges (1905–1975), American politician
• Earl "Butch" Buchholz (born 1940), American tennis player
• Earl Butz (1909–2008), American politician
• Earl Caddock (1888–1950), American professional wrestler
• Earl Caldwell (born c. 1939), American journalist
• Earl Welton Caldwell (1905–1981), American baseball player
• Earl Camembert, fictional character in the TV series SCTV
• Earl Cameron (1915–2005), Canadian broadcaster
• Earl Cameron (1917–2020), British actor
• Earl Campbell (1900–1953), Canadian ice hockey player
• Earl Campbell (born 1955), American football player
• Earl Chudoff (1907–1993), American politician
• Earl "Dutch" Clark (1906–1978), American football player
• Earl Cochell (1922–?), American tennis player
• Earl Cochran (born 1981), American football player
• Earl Cole (born 1971), American entrepreneur and television personality
• Earl Collins (1895–1958), Canadian politician
• Earl Conrad (1912–1986), American author
• Earl Cook (1908–1996), American baseball player
• Earl Cooper (1886–1965), American racecar driver
• Marion Earl Cooper (born 1957), American football player
• Earl Cranston (1840–1932), American bishop
• Earl Cureton (born 1957), American basketball player
• Earl Dawson (1925–1987), Canadian ice hockey executive and politician
• Earl Devore (1888–1928), American racecar driver
• Earl Dittman (born c. 1960), American film critic and publisher
• Earl Dodge (1932–2007), American politician
• Earl Doherty (born 1941), Canadian author
• Earl Dotson (born 1970), American football player
• Earl Douglas (radio), radio talk show producer
• Earl Durand (1913–1939), American mountain man
• Earl Duvall (1898–1969), American animator
• Earl Eby (1894–1970), American athlete
• Earl Edwards (disambiguation), multiple people
• Earl Ehrhart (born 1959), American politician
• Earl Hancock Ellis (1880–1923), U.S. Marine Corps officer
• Earl Emerson (born 1948), American novelist
• Earl Everett (born 1984), American football player
• Earl Faison (1939–2016), American football player
• Earl Kenneth Fernandes (born 1972), first Indian American Latin Rite Catholic bishop
• Earl Ferrell (born 1958), American football player
• Earl Gillespie (1922–2003), American sportscaster
• Earl Grant (1933–1970), American pianist
• Earl G. Graves, Sr. (1935–2020), American entrepreneur, publisher, businessman and philanthropist
• Earl G. Graves, Jr. (born 1962), American businessman and basketball player
• Earl Grinols (born 1951), American professor
• Earl Gros (1940–2013), American football player
• Earl Hamner Jr. (1923–2016), American writer and television producer
• Earl G. Harrison (1899–1955), American Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School; Commissioner of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1942–44
• Earl Hebner (born 1949), former WWE referee
• Earl Heikka (1910–1941), American sculptor
• Earl Hickey, fictional character in the TV series My Name Is Earl
• Earl Hindman (1942–2003), American actor
• Earl Hilliard (born 1942), American politician
• Earl Hines (1903–1983), American jazz pianist
• Earl Gladstone Hunt Jr. (1918–2005), American Methodist pastor
• Earl Dewitt Hutto (1926–2020), American politician
• Earl Jones (born 1964), American track and field athlete
• Earl Keeley (born 1936), Canadian football player
• Earl Klugh (born 1953), American jazz guitarist
• Earl Floyd Kvamme (born 1938), American engineer
• Earl "Curly" Lambeau (1898–1965), founder of the Green Bay Packers
• Earl F. Landgrebe (1916–1986), American politician
• Earl C. Latourette (1889–1956), American judge
• Earl Levine (born 1968), American entrepreneur
• Earl Lovelace (born 1935), Trinidadian writer
• Earl McCarthy (born 1969), Irish freestyle swimmer
• Earl D. McIntyre, Canadian politician
• Earl C. Michener (1876–1957), American politician
• Earl R. Miller (born 1958), American diplomat
• Earl Monroe (born 1944), American basketball player
• Earl "Madman" Muntz (1914–1987), American merchandiser
• Earl Murray (1926–1994), American football player
• Earl Okine (born 1990), American football player
• Earl Pitts, fictional radio character
• Earl Edwin Pitts (born 1953), American spy
• Earl Sande (1898–1968), American Hall of Fame jockey and thoroughbred horse trainer
• Earl Scruggs (1924–2012), American banjo player
• Earl Simmons or DMX (1970–2021), American rapper and actor
• Earl Slipher (1883–1964), astronomer
• Earl Smith (1910s outfielder) (1891–1943), American baseball player
• Earl Smith (1950s outfielder) (1928–2014), American baseball player
• Earl Smith (catcher) (1897–1963), American baseball player
• Earl Smith (coach) (1917–2012), American football, basketball, and baseball coach
• Earl "Chinna" Smith (born 1955), Jamaican guitarist
• Earl E. T. Smith (1903–1991), American politician
• Earl "J. R." Smith (born 1985), American basketball player
• Earl Stevens (born 1967), American rapper better known as E-40
• Earl Stevens, Jr., E-40's son and producer better known as Droop-E
• Earl Sweatshirt (born 1994), American rapper and Odd Future member
• Earl Swensson (1930–2022), American architect
• Earl Taft (1931–2021), American mathematician
• Earl Thomas Conley (1941–2019), American country singer
• Earl Van Dorn (1820–1863), former U.S. Army officer
• Earl Dominic Vernius, fictional character in Prelude to Dune
• Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr. (1915–1974), American psychologist
• Earl Warren (1891–1974), former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
• Earl Watson (born 1979), professional basketball player
• Earl Weaver (1930–2013), baseball manager of the Baltimore Orioles
• Earl Irvin West (1920–2011), American church historian
• Earl Wild (1915–2010), American pianist
• Earl Williams (basketball player), "the Twirl" (born 1951), American-Israeli professional basketball player
• Earl Williams (1970s catcher) (1948–2013), former major league baseball player
• Earl Wilson (1934–2005), former MLB pitcher
• Earl Woods (1932–2006), father of Tiger Woods
• James Earl Jones (born 1931), American actor
• Wentworth Earl Miller (born 1972), American actor
• Roy Earl Parrish (1888–1918), American politician