Charlea
A feminine name derived from the French word "chêre" meaning "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 479 living Americans carry the first name Charlea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Charlea today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charlea births was 2018 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charlea. 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 Charlea with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
479
~ 1 in 715,562 Americans
Peak year
2018
24 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,707
Tracked since 1970
Census
Charlea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 519 people with the first name Charlea, which placed it at #20,044 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
#20,044
National first-name rank
People counted
519
519 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Charlea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charlea is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Black (17.7%) and Two or More Races (7.1%). 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 Charlea 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 Charlea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.0% · 358
- Black or African American17.7% · 92
- Two or more races7.1% · 37
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Charlea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charlea from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 196 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Charlea remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Charlea 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 Charlea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Charleas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Charlea
The name Charlea is a feminine given name of French origin, derived from the Old French name "Carle," which itself traces its roots back to the Frankish name "Karl," meaning "free man" or "manly." The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages in France and was later adopted in other European countries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Charlea dates back to the 12th century, when it appeared in a French chronicle mentioning a noblewoman named Charlea de Montfort. During the Renaissance period, the name was particularly favored among the French aristocracy.
In the 16th century, a notable bearer of the name was Charlea de Bourbon, daughter of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme. She was a prominent figure at the court of King Henry IV of France and played a significant role in the French Wars of Religion.
Another historical figure who bore the name Charlea was Charlea de Rohan (1554-1601), a French noblewoman and courtier during the reigns of Henry III and Henry IV. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her influential role in the French court.
In the 17th century, Charlea de Montpensier (1627-1693), also known as the "Grand Mademoiselle," was a prominent figure in French society. She was a member of the House of Bourbon and a cousin of King Louis XIV. Her memoirs provide valuable insights into the life of the French nobility during that period.
Moving into the 18th century, Charlea Darlens (1717-1797) was a French artist and engraver who achieved recognition for her intricate engravings and etchings, particularly those depicting scenes from ancient mythology.
While the name Charlea has remained relatively uncommon in modern times, its historical roots and associations with French nobility and cultural figures have contributed to its enduring appeal and significance as a given name.
People
Charlea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charlea 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
Charlea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charlea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 479 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charlea 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 715,562 US residents.
Is Charlea a common name?
We classify Charlea as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 488 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charlea most popular?
The single biggest year for Charlea was 2018, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charlea is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Charlea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 519 people with the name Charlea, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,044 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 Charlea 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 Charlea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Charlea leans strongly female. 425 people counted with this name were female (81.1%), compared with 99 male bearers (18.9%). 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 Charlea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charlea is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Black (17.7%) and Two or More Races (7.1%). 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 Charlea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Charlea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.0% (358 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 Charlea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Charlea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Charlea 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 Charlea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Charlea 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 Charlea 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 have the name Charlea?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.