Charlene
Masculine · “free man”
Charlene is given to girls far more often — 133,729 girls against 382 boys since 1880. See Charlene as a girl name
Charlene entered the US charts in 1933, peaked at #2131 in 1945, is rarely given in 2025 — given to only a few children a year.
How old is the name Charlene?
Charlene first appears in US birth records in 1933 — 92 years ago. The typical Charlene alive today was born around 1957, making them about 68 years old. About 300 people named Charlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Charlene most popular?
Charlene peaked in 1945, reaching #2131 nationally. See the whole 1945 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From karl to Charlene
The story of Charlene
Charles was a Frankish royal name half of Europe borrowed, and every language built feminines on it — Carla, Carlotta, Charlotte, Caroline. American naming of the early twentieth century added its own, using the productive -ene suffix: Charlene appears in the registers from the 1920s, rose sharply through the 1940s and peaked in the mid-1950s alongside Darlene and Marlene.
Meaning
free man
Through Charles, from the Germanic karl, 'free man' — a man of standing below the nobility. The word became a title through Charlemagne, whose name was so dominant that karl itself became the Slavic word for king. The -ene ending carries no meaning of its own.
How the name formed
- karl
- Charles
- Charlene
Related forms: Charline · Charleen · Carlina
Pronouncing Charlene
shar-LEEN
Two syllables, stress on the second. The -ene ending always carries the stress in names of this family.
Nicknames for Charlene
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
- 1933
- Most boys named
- 195714 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2131reached in 1945
- Change vs 1988
- −28.6%5 in 1990, from 7
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.
Charlene in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Charline in French — related form
- Charleen in English — spelling variant
- Carlina in Italian — related form
Charlenes among us
people named Charlene 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
Charlene 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
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What they receive
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Charlene
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Charlenes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Charlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Charlene in 2025?
- Charlene is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Charlene with classmates?
- Charlene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Charles#48 · Christopher#68 · Carl#1132 · Christian#96 · Caleb#58 · Cameron#76 · Carlos#150 · Clarence#1499
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Charlene? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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