Charmayne
A feminine name originating from French and meaning "free woman".
Name Census estimates that about 1,140 living Americans carry the first name Charmayne. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Charmayne today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charmayne births was 1987 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charmayne. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 300,662 Americans
Peak year
1987
56 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2009 SSA rank
#17,874
Tracked since 1928
Popularity
Charmayne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charmayne from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 274 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
Charmayne 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 Charmayne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Charmaynes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Arizona, New Mexico, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Charmayne, while Florida, Illinois, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 42 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Charmayne
The given name Charmayne has its origins in the French language. It is a feminine form of the French masculine name Charmant, which means "charming" or "delightful." The name likely emerged in France during the Middle Ages, a period spanning from the 5th to the 15th century.
Charmayne's roots can be traced back to the Old French word "charmant," derived from the Latin word "carminare," which means "to sing enchantingly." This Latin word is linked to the word "carmen," meaning "song" or "poem." The name Charmayne carries a connotation of charm, grace, and attractiveness.
While there are no specific historical references to the name Charmayne in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that the name was used informally or regionally during the medieval period in France. The earliest recorded use of the name Charmayne is somewhat unclear, as record-keeping practices varied across regions and eras.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Charmayne was Charmayne James (1925-2010), an American singer and actress who gained fame in the 1950s and 1960s. She appeared in several movies and television shows, including the film "Satchmo the Great" (1957) and the TV series "The Jackie Gleason Show."
Another notable figure was Charmayne "Maxee" Maxwell (1953-2020), an American singer and songwriter best known as a member of the funk band Brownstone. She co-wrote the hit song "If You Love Me" and contributed to several successful albums with the group.
Charmayne Carpenter (born 1950) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She had a top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with the single "I Love How You Love Me" in 1990.
Charmayne Woodard (born 1953) is an American actress and playwright. She is known for her roles in films such as "The Crucible" (1996), "Down in the Delta" (1998), and "Passion Fish" (1992), for which she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination.
Charmayne "Maxee" Crittenden (1972-2021) was an American actress and singer. She gained recognition for her role as Simone Winters in the television series "The Steve Harvey Show" from 1996 to 2002.
It is worth noting that while the name Charmayne is primarily associated with women, there have been instances of it being used as a masculine name as well, though less commonly.
People
Charmayne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charmayne 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
Charmayne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charmayne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,140 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charmayne 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 300,662 US residents.
Is Charmayne a common name?
We classify Charmayne as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,416 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charmayne most popular?
The single biggest year for Charmayne was 1987, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charmayne is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Charmayne a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Charmayne 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.