Charleston
Feminine · “Charles's town”
Charleston is given to both — 1,305 girls and 2,508 boys since 1880. See Charleston as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Charleston is a southern American city named for a king, and also the dance that took the city's name in the 1920s. Both are alive in the word, and the dance is usually the first thing people think of.
How old is the name Charleston?
Charleston first appears in US birth records in 1997 — 28 years ago. The typical Charleston is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,300 people named Charleston are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Charleston most popular?
Charleston peaked in 2015, reaching #1042 nationally. Today it ranks #3249, 2,207 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Charles to Charleston
The story of Charleston
Charles Town was founded in 1670 and renamed Charleston after the American Revolution, when English royal forms were being quietly dropped. In the 1920s a song and dance named for the city swept America and Europe and became one of the defining images of the decade. Its use as a given name is recent and American, part of a group of place names — Charleston, Savannah, Austin — used for girls and boys alike.
Meaning
Charles's town
The South Carolina city was founded as Charles Town for Charles II of England; Charles is Germanic, from a word meaning a free man. The West Virginia city of the same name has a separate and later origin.
How the name formed
- Charles
- Charles Town
- Charleston
Related forms: Charles · Charleston
Pronouncing Charleston
CHARL-stuhn
Two or three syllables depending on the speaker; CHARLZ-tun is the fuller form.
Nicknames for Charleston
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
- 1997
- Most girls named
- 2015255 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1042reached in 2015
- Change vs 2024
- +4.3%48 in 2025, from 46
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.
Charleston in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Charles in English — related form
- Charleston in French — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee.
Charlestons among us
people named Charleston are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 33,485 born in 2025 was named Charleston
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 Iman test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Charleston's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Iman climbed just as high around 1996, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Iman's path sketches the road Charleston is walking now.
Charleston 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 Charleston is headed
Charleston is easing off slowly — about 29% 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.
Charleston beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Charleston in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A real place with three hundred and fifty years of documented history behind the word.
- Charlie sits inside it as a warm, current short form for a girl.
- Everyone can already say it and spell it.
- The dance is the first association for a great many people, and it is a cheerful but loud one.
- The city's history includes the American slave trade, which the name carries whether or not it is meant to.
- Ten letters is a great deal for early handwriting.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Charleston to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Charleston
Feminine · #3249 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Charlestons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Charleston are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Charleston in 2025?
- Charleston ranks #3249 among US girl names in 2025, with 48 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Charleston?
- About 1 in every 33,485 US girls born in 2025 was named Charleston — 48 in all.
- Will my child share the name Charleston with classmates?
- Charleston will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Charleston
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Aisley#3249 · Quinley#3249 · Rosetta#3249 · Avalee#3249 · Unknown#3249 · Livi#3249 · Delina#3249 · Aniah#3249
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Charleston? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Charleston and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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