Charlei
A feminine French diminutive form of the name Charles meaning "free man".
Name Census estimates that about 229 living Americans carry the first name Charlei. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Charlei today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charlei births was 2015 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charlei. 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.
People living today
229
~ 1 in 1,496,744 Americans
Peak year
2015
19 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,286
Tracked since 2006
Popularity
Charlei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charlei from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 145 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Charlei remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Charlei 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 Charlei during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Charlei
The name Charlei is an uncommon variant of the more familiar name Charles, which has its origins in the Germanic languages. The name is derived from the Old German word "karl," meaning "man" or "free man." It was a popular name among the Frankish aristocracy during the Middle Ages.
In the 8th century, the name gained widespread recognition and renown due to Charlemagne, the King of the Franks and the first Holy Roman Emperor. Charlemagne, whose name in Old French was Charles le Magne, meaning "Charles the Great," ruled a vast empire that encompassed much of Western and Central Europe.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Charlei can be traced back to the 12th century, when it appeared in various medieval records and manuscripts. One notable bearer of the name was Charlei de Beaumont, a 13th-century nobleman from the Duchy of Burgundy.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Charlei. In the 14th century, Charlei de Valois was a French prince and the Count of Alençon. During the Renaissance, Charlei de Bourbon was a prominent French military leader who fought in the Italian Wars.
In the 17th century, Charlei de La Tour was a French soldier and diplomat who played a significant role in the Thirty Years' War. A century later, Charlei de Gaulle, born in 1890, was a revered French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II and later served as the President of France from 1959 to 1969.
While the name Charlei has seen limited use compared to its more common counterpart, Charles, it has maintained a presence throughout various periods of history, particularly among the European nobility and military leaders. The name's enduring legacy is a testament to its strong Germanic roots and its association with figures of great historical significance.
People
Charlei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charlei 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
Charlei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charlei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 229 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charlei 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 1,496,744 US residents.
Is Charlei a common name?
We classify Charlei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 231 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charlei most popular?
The single biggest year for Charlei was 2015, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charlei is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Charlei in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Charlei a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Charlei 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 Charlei still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Charlei 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 Charlei 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Charlei?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.