Sharlene
Feminine · “Germanic karl”
The letters ch have three values in English and each one tells you where the word came from. Church is native, machine is French, chorus is Greek. Sharlene is what happens when a speller decides to remove the guesswork.
How old is the name Sharlene?
Sharlene first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Sharlene alive today was born around 1959, making them about 66 years old. About 9,800 people named Sharlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sharlene most popular?
Sharlene peaked in 1949, reaching #461 nationally. Today it ranks #10107, 9,646 places below that high. See the whole 1949 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From karl to Sharlene
The story of Sharlene
English inherited ch from three directions and never reconciled them. Native words keep the old English sound, as in church, child and chin. Words borrowed from French after the thirteenth century, when French had already softened the sound, say sh: machine, chef, chandelier, Charlotte. Words taken from Greek through Latin say k: chorus, chemist, character, Christopher. There is no rule a reader can apply without knowing a word's history, which means the spelling ch is really a small etymological label attached to every word that carries it. American respellings dissolve the label. Sharlene writes the French value directly, and in doing so hides the fact that the name came through France, which is exactly the information the ch was carrying.
Meaning
Germanic karl, a free man
Sharlene is a phonetic respelling of Charlene, a feminine of Charles, from Germanic karl, a free man. The sh spelling writes the sound that the French ch already makes in this name. The peak is 1949.
How the name formed
- karl
- Charles
- Charlene
- Sharlene
Related forms: Charlene · Charline · Sharleen
Pronouncing Sharlene
shar-LEEN
Two syllables, stress on the second. Charlene and Sharlene are homophones; only the etymological signal differs.
Nicknames for Sharlene
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
- 1917
- Most girls named
- 1956380 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #461reached in 1949
- Change vs 2023
- +50.0%9 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.
Sharlene in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Charlene in English — spelling variant
- Charline in French — same name
- Sharleen in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Sharlenes among us
people named Sharlene are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 178,585 born in 2025 was named Sharlene
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 Maryjane test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sharlene's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Maryjane climbed just as high around 1923, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Maryjane's path sketches the road Sharlene is walking now.
Sharlene 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
Sharlene beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sharlene in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The spelling removes any doubt about the first sound.
- Char and Shari are two short forms in different styles.
- Two syllables with the weight at the end.
- Charlene is the standard spelling.
- The respelling hides the name's French route.
- The 1949 peak dates it to the mid-century.
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What they receive
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Sharlene
Feminine · #10107 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sharlenes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 9,800 people named Sharlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sharlene in 2025?
- Sharlene ranks #10107 among US girl names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sharlene?
- About 1 in every 178,585 US girls born in 2025 was named Sharlene — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sharlene with classmates?
- Sharlene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sharlene
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Berta#10107 · Jettie#10107 · Maye#10107 · Osa#10107 · Fidelia#10107 · Alysa#10107 · Su#10107 · Willie#10107
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sharlene? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sharlene and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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