Charles
Masculine · “Free man”
Charles is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 2,434,659 boys against 12,476 girls since 1880. See Charles as a girl name
Charles began as a Germanic word for a free man, traveled through Frankish kings into French, and arrived in English carrying the weight of emperors and novelists. It has been shortened to Charlie and Chuck for generations, and both are still heard daily. Two syllables in French, one in English — a name that changes shape depending on which side of the Channel it lands on.
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 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 1,242,000 people named Charles are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Charles most popular?
Charles peaked in 1880, reaching #4 nationally. Today it ranks #48, 44 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Where it comes from
From Karl to Charles
The story of Charles
The Germanic name Karl was carried by the Frankish ruler known to history as Charlemagne, whose reign around the turn of the ninth century fixed the name in European royalty for a thousand years. Through Old French it became Charles, and it entered England properly with the Stuart kings in the seventeenth century, after which it spread widely among English speakers. It has been borne by Holy Roman Emperors, French heads of state, and the current British monarch. The Latin form Carolus is the reason the feminine Caroline and Charlotte exist at all.
Meaning
Free man
From Germanic karl, 'free man' — a man who was neither noble nor serf. The same root gave English 'churl', which drifted toward insult while Charles went the other way entirely.
Cultural footprint
Charles Darwin (b. 1809) — On the Origin of Species changed science forever
Charles Dickens (b. 1812) — Created Scrooge, Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol
Charles III (b. 1948) — King of the United Kingdom
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Karl
- Carolus
- Charles
- Charlie
- Charlotte
Related forms: Karl · Carlos · Carlo · Karol · Károly · Cathal
Pronouncing Charles
CHARLZ
One syllable in English. The French Charles is roughly SHARL, which is worth knowing if the name has family roots there.
Nicknames for Charles
High
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 boys named
- 195139,406 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −0.6%5,898 in 2025, from 5,934
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
- Karl in German — same name
- Carlos in Spanish — same name
- Carlo in Italian — same name
- Karol in Polish — same name
- Károly in Hungarian — same name
- Cathal in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from Statistics Canada, INSEE. Sources
Charless among us
people named Charles are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 290 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 has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Charles is headed
Charles should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Charles beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Charles in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Universally recognized spelling in English — almost never needs to be repeated or clarified.
- Several long-established short forms, from the friendly Charlie to the brisk Chuck, so the name flexes across a lifetime.
- Direct equivalents in Spanish, German, Italian, Polish and French, which travels well in multilingual families.
- An unbroken record in English use since the seventeenth century, and in Continental royalty for far longer.
- Still charts in both Canada and France, so it reads as familiar rather than foreign in much of the West.
- Strongly represented among older generations, so it may read as an inherited name rather than a new one — though that has not stopped it from continuing to be given.
- Charlie is now common for girls as well as boys, which means the nickname is less gender-specific than the full name.
- Chuck has a distinctly mid-century American flavor and may not be a short form you want; if so, it helps to establish Charlie early.
- The French pronunciation is close to unrecognizable from the English one, which can cause a moment of confusion in bilingual settings.
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What they receive
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Charles
Masculine · #48 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 1,242,000 people named Charles are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Charles in 2025?
- Charles ranks #48 among US boy names in 2025, with 5,898 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Charles?
- About 1 in every 290 US boys born in 2025 was named Charles — 5,898 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.
Isaac#47 · Maverick#49 · Anthony#46 · Thiago#50 · Carter#45 · Grayson#51 · Miles#44 · Wesley#52
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; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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