Charline
Feminine · “a free man's daughter”
English built a remarkable number of women's names out of one man's name. Charles gives Charlotte, Caroline, Carla, Charlene, Charline and Carol, all of them arriving by different routes and at different times. Charline is the French-shaped one, and the ending it carries is said the French way — een, not ine — which is the single thing about it that Americans get wrong.
How old is the name Charline?
Charline first appears in US birth records in 1894 — 131 years ago. The typical Charline alive today was born around 1939, making them about 86 years old. About 3,000 people named Charline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Charline most popular?
Charline peaked in 1928, reaching #543 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 12,665 places below that high. See the whole 1928 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From karl to Charline
The story of Charline
Charlemagne fixed the men's name across Europe, and every language that took it eventually built women's versions. French produced Charlotte first and then a set of -ine forms, of which Charline is one; they entered English use through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. American records carry Charline from the 1890s onward, peaking between the wars, and it belongs recognizably to that generation. What distinguishes it from Charlene, its American cousin, is entirely the vowel: the French ending is a long ee and the American one is not.
Meaning
a free man's daughter
From the Germanic karl, meaning a free man of no particular rank, through Charles. The -ine ending is the French diminutive and feminine suffix, the same one that closes Adeline, Pauline and Micheline, and it adds smallness or affection rather than meaning.
How the name formed
- karl
- Charles
- Charline
Related forms: Charline · Karline · Carlina · Charlene
Pronouncing Charline
shar-LEEN
Two syllables with the stress at the back and the final syllable rhyming with seen. French says it that way and so do most American families, though some produce SHAR-line, rhyming with fine, which the spelling permits and the French does not.
Nicknames for Charline
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
- 1894
- Most girls named
- 1929153 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #543reached in 1928
- Change vs 2021
- 0.0%6 in 2025, from 6
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.
Charline in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Charline in French — same name
- Karline in German — same name
- Carlina in Italian — related form
- Charlene in English — spelling variant
Charlines among us
people named Charline are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Charline
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 Maxie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Charline's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Maxie climbed just as high around 1908, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Maxie's path sketches the road Charline is walking now.
Charline 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
Charline beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Charline in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Charlie is available and is one of the most current unisex short names in English.
- The name family behind it is among the largest and best documented in Europe.
- Two syllables, soft consonants, and it sits well with almost any surname.
- It is French in shape without being difficult for an English speaker.
- Charlene is the commoner American spelling and will be written instead.
- The final vowel is not settled in American use, so the name arrives two ways.
- It belongs to an older American generation, which is a virtue to some ears and a datedness to others.
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What they receive
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Charline
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Charlines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,000 people named Charline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Charline in 2025?
- Charline ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Charline?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Charline — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Charline with classmates?
- Charline will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Charline
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Bernadine#13208 · Euna#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Charline? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Charline and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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