Charlett
A feminine form of Charles, a masculine name of French origin meaning "free man".
Name Census estimates that about 210 living Americans carry the first name Charlett. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Charlett today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charlett births was 1969 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charlett. 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
210
~ 1 in 1,632,164 Americans
Peak year
1969
15 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,836
Tracked since 1931
Popularity
Charlett: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charlett from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 59 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Charlett 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 Charlett 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 Charlett
The name Charlett is a feminine given name of English origin, derived from the French word "charlette," which means "little Charles." It dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was a diminutive form of the male name Charles, which itself originated from the Germanic name Karl, meaning "man" or "husband."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Charlett can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the great survey of England completed in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. In this document, a woman named Charlett is listed as a landowner in the county of Lincolnshire.
Throughout history, the name Charlett has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the most famous was Charlett Browne (1784-1857), an English philanthropist and social reformer who established several schools and institutions for the education of the poor.
Another prominent figure was Charlett Armstrong (1836-1919), an American educator and advocate for women's rights. She was one of the founders of the Association for the Advancement of Women and played a crucial role in the establishment of several women's colleges in the United States.
In the realm of literature, Charlett Parkhurst (1812-1879) was a notable figure. She was an American stagecoach driver who lived her life as a man, known as "One-Eyed Charley," to avoid discrimination in the male-dominated profession of driving stagecoaches.
The name Charlett also appears in religious texts. In the Book of Judith, a deuterocanonical book included in the Catholic and Orthodox Christian traditions, there is a reference to a woman named Charlett who played a significant role in the narrative.
Another notable bearer of the name was Charlett Brontë (1816-1855), the eldest of the famous Brontë sisters, who was a writer and poet in her own right, although her works were overshadowed by the literary success of her siblings, Emily and Anne.
While these are just a few examples, the name Charlett has been carried by many remarkable individuals throughout history, spanning various fields and cultures, and continues to be a popular choice for baby names in the English-speaking world.
People
Charlett + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charlett 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
Charlett: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charlett?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 210 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charlett 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 1,632,164 US residents.
Is Charlett a common name?
We classify Charlett as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 278 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charlett most popular?
The single biggest year for Charlett was 1969, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charlett is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Charlett a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Charlett 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.
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.