Charelle
A French feminine name of unknown meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 406 living Americans carry the first name Charelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Charelle today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charelle births was 1989 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charelle. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Charelle with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
406
~ 1 in 844,223 Americans
Peak year
1989
35 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2003 SSA rank
#14,213
Tracked since 1969
Census
Charelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 374 people with the first name Charelle, which placed it at #25,370 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#25,370
National first-name rank
People counted
374
374 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Charelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charelle is Black at 66.6%. The next largest groups are White (19.3%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Charelle described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Charelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.6% · 249
- White19.3% · 72
- Two or more races5.3% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 4
Popularity
Charelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charelle from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 178 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Charelle by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Charelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Charelles live
Origin
Meaning and history of Charelle
The name Charelle is a feminine given name of French origin, derived from the Old French word "char," meaning "cart" or "wagon." It can be traced back to the Middle Ages, a time when carts and wagons were essential modes of transportation.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, the name Charelle was commonly found in areas of northern France, particularly in regions like Normandy and Picardy. It was often associated with families or individuals involved in the trade or transportation of goods, as the name reflected their occupation or proximity to these activities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Charelle can be found in the medieval French epic poem "La Chanson de Roland," which dates back to the late 11th century. In this literary work, a character named Charelle is mentioned, though details about their role or significance are scarce.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Charelle. One such person was Charelle de Béziers, a French noblewoman who lived in the 13th century and played a role in the Albigensian Crusade, a religious conflict that took place in southern France.
Another notable Charelle was Charelle de Montfort, a 14th-century French woman who was a member of the influential Montfort family and known for her patronage of the arts and literature during her time.
In the 16th century, Charelle du Plessis was a French writer and poet who gained recognition for her works, which often explored themes of love and spirituality.
During the 17th century, Charelle de La Vallière was a French courtier and mistress of King Louis XIV, known for her beauty and influence within the royal court.
The name Charelle also made an appearance in the 18th century, with Charelle de Saint-Aubin, a French painter and engraver who was celebrated for her intricate and detailed works of art.
While the name Charelle has its roots in the French language and culture, its usage has spread to other parts of the world over time, though it remains relatively rare in comparison to more common French names.
People
Charelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charelle as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Charelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 406 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charelle going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 844,223 US residents.
Is Charelle a common name?
We classify Charelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 429 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Charelle was 1989, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charelle is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Charelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 374 people with the name Charelle, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,370 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Charelle in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Charelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Charelle leans strongly female. 368 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 10 male bearers (2.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Charelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charelle is Black at 66.6%. The next largest groups are White (19.3%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Charelle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Charelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.6% (249 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Charelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Charelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Charelle in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Charelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Charelle in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Charelle can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Charelle?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.