Charles

Charles: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “free man”
Origin: Germanic
Say it: CHARLZ · 1 syllable
Used for: Boys

From Germanic Karl, meaning man or free man, via French Charles. It has long royal associations, especially through Charlemagne and later European monarchs.

English names French names Names meaning noble Names meaning royalty Classic names Royal names International names

How popular is Charles?

20241,683 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Charles in 20245,601

2024 rank#51 boys

Peak year1880

Total US babies since 18802,441,151

Charles is steady now but far below its 1880 peak.

Names like Charles

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Charlottefree man · French
Carolinefree woman · French
Charleyfree man · English
Lottiefree man · English
Carlofree man · Germanic
Charlenefree woman · Germanic
GiancarloGod is gracious and manly · Italian
Karolinefree woman · Germanic

Charles questions

What does the name Charles mean?

Charles means "free man". It comes from Germanic. From Germanic Karl, meaning man or free man, via French Charles. It has long royal associations, especially through Charlemagne and later European monarchs.

Is Charles a boy or girl name?

Charles is mainly a boy's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Charles?

5,601 US babies were named Charles in 2024. Its peak year was 1880.

How do you pronounce Charles?

Charles is usually pronounced CHARLZ.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.