Charles
Feminine · “Germanic karl”
Charles is given to boys far more often — 2,434,659 boys against 12,476 girls since 1880. See Charles as a boy name
Churl once meant a free peasant, a man with land and standing. It now means rude. English did that to nearly every word it had for an ordinary person: villain was a farm worker, boor was a farmer, knave was a boy. The words for common people all soured.
How old is the name Charles?
Charles was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Charles alive today was born around 1945, making them about 80 years old. About 6,500 people named Charles are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Charles most popular?
Charles peaked in 1882, reaching #372 nationally. Today it ranks #9457, 9,085 places below that high. See the whole 1882 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From karl to Charles
The story of Charles
The pattern is consistent and it is not accidental. Ceorl in Old English was a free man of the lowest rank, a landholder with legal standing, and it became churl, meaning boorish. Villein was a tenant farmer, and it became villain. Boor is Dutch boer, a farmer, and means an oaf. Knave was simply a boy, and became a scoundrel. Peasant, rustic, yokel, vulgar and common all began as neutral descriptions of most of the population and ended as insults. The reverse never happens: no word for a nobleman has drifted downward in the same way. What the vocabulary records is that the people doing the writing were not the people being described, and that a language will steadily degrade its words for those below whoever is using it. Charles is the same word as churl, and only the name escaped.
Meaning
Germanic karl, a free man
Charles descends from Germanic karl, a free man of the common rank, the same word as English churl. The female entries in the American record most likely represent family names given to daughters, a common nineteenth-century practice, or transcription, since the sex recorded on a Social Security application is preserved permanently. The female peak is 1882.
How the name formed
- karl
- Carolus
- Charles
Related forms: Charles · Karl · Carlos
Pronouncing Charles
CHARLZ
One syllable. French says SHARL with a silent final s. The English pronunciation with a ch is the Norman one that England kept.
Nicknames for Charles
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 1927303 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #372reached in 1882
- Change vs 2022
- +11.1%10 in 2025, from 9
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.
Charles in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Charles in French — same name
- Karl in German — same name
- Carlos in Spanish — same name
Charless among us
people named Charles are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 160,727 born in 2025 was named Charles
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Charles 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
Charles beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Charles in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Charlie works as a short form and is fully unisex.
- The name has an exceptionally well documented history.
- It is recognized in every European language.
- It is read as a man's name essentially everywhere.
- The female records are few and some are certainly clerical.
- Charlotte and Charlene are the established female forms.
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What they receive
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Charles
Feminine · #9457 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Charless are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,500 people named Charles are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Charles in 2025?
- Charles ranks #9457 among US girl names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Charles?
- About 1 in every 160,727 US girls born in 2025 was named Charles — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Charles with classmates?
- Charles will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Charles
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Leta#9457 · Inga#9457 · Delphia#9457 · Cammie#9457 · Lisandra#9457 · Amee#9457 · Venecia#9457 · Annetta#9457
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Charles? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Charles and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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