Charla
Feminine · “free man”
Charla is the shortest women's name English ever made from Charles, and Charles began as a word for an ordinary free man. Germanic karl meant a man who was neither a slave nave nor a noble — a peasant with rights — and it became a king's name only because one particular king was called it.
How old is the name Charla?
Charla first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Charla alive today was born around 1967, making them about 58 years old. About 6,900 people named Charla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Charla most popular?
Charla peaked in 1968, reaching #664 nationally. See the whole 1968 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From karl to Charla
The story of Charla
English has made a great many women's names from Charles and it took a long route to each: Caroline through Latin Carolus, Charlotte through French, Charlene through the American -ene suffix, Carla and Charla through the plain Latin ending. Charla is the tightest of them, two syllables where the others have three or four, and it is the only one that keeps the French ch spelling while dropping everything else French about the name. It appears in American records through the middle of the last century alongside Charlene and Charmaine.
Meaning
free man
Germanic karl means a man, specifically a free man of the common sort, and it survives in the English word churl, which has come down in the world since. Charlemagne — Carolus Magnus, Charles the Great — made the name royal, and it became a title in Slavic languages, where the word for a king is still built on his name. The meaning is settled. Charla adds the Latin -a ending and nothing else.
How the name formed
- karl
- Carolus
- Charles
- Charla
Related forms: Carla · Karla · Charlotte · Carla
Pronouncing Charla
SHAR-luh
SHAR-luh, two syllables, stress at the front, the ch said as sh in the French way. A reader who takes the ch as English produces CHAR-luh, which is not the name, and the spelling gives no warning.
Nicknames for Charla
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
- 1917
- Most girls named
- 1969219 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #664reached in 1968
- Change vs 2020
- 0.0%5 in 2023, from 5
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.
Charla in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Carla in Italian — same name
- Karla in German — same name
- Charlotte in French — related form
- Carla in Spanish — same name
Charlas among us
people named Charla are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Charla sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is the shortest and tightest of the women's names built on Charles.
- Charlie is available and works for either child.
- The derivation is documented and pleasantly unpretentious.
- The ch is French and gets read as English by first-time readers, so the name is mispronounced on sight.
- Carla and Karla are far more common and will be substituted freely.
- It belongs audibly to the middle of the last century, which is either the appeal or the objection.
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Charla
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Charlas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,900 people named Charla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Charla in 2025?
- Charla is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Charla with classmates?
- Charla will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Charla? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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