Charbel
Masculine · “story of God”
Charbel is a Syriac name carried above all by Lebanese Maronite families, and it belongs to a nineteenth-century hermit monk whose canonization made it one of the characteristic names of Lebanon.
How old is the name Charbel?
Charbel first appears in US birth records in 1988 — 37 years ago. The typical Charbel is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Charbel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Charbel most popular?
Charbel peaked in 2019, reaching #2292 nationally. Today it ranks #3314, 1,022 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Charbel
Charbel Makhlouf was a monk of the Lebanese mountains who lived as a hermit for the last twenty-three years of his life and was canonized in 1977. The name was rare before him and became very common in Lebanon afterwards, and it traveled with Lebanese emigration to Brazil, Australia, France and the United States. It reaches American records almost entirely through Maronite and other Levantine Christian families.
Meaningscholars disagree
story of God, or God has told
The name is Syriac and its first element is generally read as a word for a story or an account, joined to the divine element -bel or -el. Readings differ on the exact sense, and an older Semitic god-name Bel has also been proposed for the second half.
Pronouncing Charbel
SHAR-bel
Two syllables, first stressed, with a sh at the front. English speakers often say CHAR-bel with a hard ch.
Nicknames for Charbel
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1988
- Most boys named
- 201960 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2292reached in 2019
- Change vs 2024
- +34.6%35 in 2025, from 26
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Charbel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sharbel in Arabic — transliteration
- Charbel in Syriac — same name
- Charbel in Portuguese — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Michigan, Massachusetts.
Charbels among us
people named Charbel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 48,802 born in 2025 was named Charbel
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Ramin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Charbel's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ramin climbed just as high around 1984, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ramin's path sketches the road Charbel is walking now.
Charbel sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Charbel is headed
Charbel is easing off slowly — about 20% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Charbel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Charbel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A clear and documented devotional origin with a specific and recent history.
- Very strongly established in Lebanon and across the Lebanese diaspora.
- Two syllables and seven letters, easy enough to say once the first consonant is known.
- English readers say the ch as in church rather than as in machine, which changes the name.
- Sharbel is the other standard transliteration and relatives may prefer it.
- Outside Levantine Christian communities it will need explaining every time.
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What they receive
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Charbel
Masculine · #3314 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Charbels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Charbel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Charbel in 2025?
- Charbel ranks #3314 among US boy names in 2025, with 35 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Charbel?
- About 1 in every 48,802 US boys born in 2025 was named Charbel — 35 in all.
- Will my child share the name Charbel with classmates?
- Charbel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Charbel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rainier#3314 · Coulter#3314 · Caio#3314 · Kaydon#3314 · Daksh#3314 · Kree#3314 · Calen#3314 · Mathis#3314
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Charbel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Charbel and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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