Charlena
From the French diminutive of Charles, meaning "free man" or "petite".
Name Census estimates that about 1,274 living Americans carry the first name Charlena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Charlena today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charlena births was 1978 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charlena. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 269,038 Americans
Peak year
1978
46 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2015 SSA rank
#14,884
Tracked since 1903
Census
Charlena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,284 people with the first name Charlena, which placed it at #10,411 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
#10,411
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,284 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Charlena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charlena is Black at 45.8%. The next largest groups are White (39.2%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Charlena 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 Charlena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.8% · 588
- White39.2% · 503
- Two or more races6.1% · 78
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 25
Popularity
Charlena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charlena from the 1900s through to the 2010s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 322 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
Charlena 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 Charlena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Charlenas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, South Carolina, Ohio recorded the most babies named Charlena, while Illinois, Alabama, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Charlena
The name Charlena is a feminine given name with roots tracing back to the Old English and Old French languages. Its origins can be found in the combination of the Germanic elements "karl" meaning "man" or "freeman" and the French "lena" derived from the name Helena, signifying "bright" or "shining light."
In its earliest recorded use, the name Charlena appeared in medieval English records from the 12th century. During this time, it was often spelled as "Charlene" or "Charleine," reflecting the linguistic influences of the period. The name's popularity grew slowly over the centuries, particularly among families with ties to both English and French cultures.
One of the earliest documented bearers of the name Charlena was Charlena de Montfort, a noblewoman who lived in the 13th century and was known for her patronage of the arts and literature. Another notable figure was Charlena Beaumont, a 14th-century English poet whose works explored themes of love and nature.
In the 16th century, the name gained further recognition with the birth of Charlena Cavendish (1554-1628), an English aristocrat and landowner. Her life and legacy were chronicled in various historical records, providing insight into the social and political landscapes of Elizabethan England.
Moving into the 17th century, Charlena Browne (1672-1738) left her mark as a pioneering educator and advocate for women's education in colonial America. Her work paved the way for future generations of female scholars and intellectuals.
The 19th century saw the rise of Charlena Grimké (1792-1873), an American abolitionist and women's rights activist. Born into a prominent slaveholding family in South Carolina, she courageously spoke out against the institution of slavery and fought for equal rights, leaving a lasting impact on the abolitionist movement.
Throughout its history, the name Charlena has been carried by various individuals from diverse backgrounds, each contributing their unique stories and legacies to the tapestry of human experience.
People
Charlena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charlena 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
Charlena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charlena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,274 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charlena 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 269,038 US residents.
Is Charlena a common name?
We classify Charlena as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,809 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charlena most popular?
The single biggest year for Charlena was 1978, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charlena is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Charlena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,284 people with the name Charlena, or 0.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,411 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 Charlena 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 Charlena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Charlena appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,282 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Charlena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charlena is Black at 45.8%. The next largest groups are White (39.2%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Charlena most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Charlena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.8% (588 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 Charlena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Charlena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Charlena 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 Charlena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Charlena 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 Charlena 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 Americans are named Charlena?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.